Pen Buddy
← All guides
Guide

Can you do LeetCode on an iPad?

Yes. LeetCode’s site works in Safari on iPad, and with a keyboard you can code comfortably. The iPad is at its best for the part that matters most: thinking it through by hand.

Updated · 5 min read

Yes. LeetCode runs in Safari on iPad, editor and all. Reading problems and sketching ideas is better on an iPad than on a laptop, because you can draw the array, the pointers and the tree with Apple Pencil, the way you would on an interview whiteboard. Typing code is the only part that needs a little setup.

Lined ⌄
End
Listening
Say “pull up LeetCode” and the problem opens beside your page, while Buddy follows along.

What works well on iPad

  • Drawing it out. Dry-running two pointers, tracing a recursion tree or filling in a DP table by hand is how most people find the idea.
  • Reading. Problems, editorials and discussions read well, and Split View keeps them beside your notes.
  • Focus. One app at a time is a feature when you’re trying to concentrate.

What’s harder

Typing code on glass. Any hardware keyboard fixes it: Apple’s Magic Keyboard, a keyboard folio or any Bluetooth keyboard. With one, the LeetCode editor in Safari works much as it does on a laptop. A trackpad or mouse helps too.

A setup that works

  1. Problem and notes side by side. Open the problem in Safari and your notes app in Split View.
  2. Draw first. Before you code, sketch the input, walk through a small example and write the idea in a sentence.
  3. Then code, with the keyboard, and run the tests.
  4. Keep a page per pattern. Handwritten pattern notes with your own diagrams are the best review material you’ll have.

With Pen Buddy on iPad

Pen Buddy puts the browser and the notebook in one place. Say “pull up LeetCode” and a study browser opens beside your page. Work the idea out with your Pencil and ask Buddy if you’re on the right track: it reads your handwriting. Ask it to show you, and it draws two pointers, a tree or a DP table on your page, in its own ink. Every session is written into your notes with review questions. See Pen Buddy for iPad and LeetCode with Buddy.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Yes. LeetCode’s website works in Safari on iPad, including the code editor and running tests. A hardware keyboard makes typing code much more comfortable.

For the thinking part, it’s excellent: drawing data structures by hand is close to interviewing at a whiteboard. For writing code, add a keyboard.

Yes, in any notes app with Apple Pencil. In Pen Buddy you can also ask Buddy to draw pointers, trees and DP tables on your page.