# Protoboard Designer: PCB CAD — Layout Editor & Gerber Export

> Layout Editor & Gerber Export (iPhone/iPad app by Protoboard Designer Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/protoboard-designer-pcb-cad/id6799526213 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Protoboard Designer Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag](https://appshunter.io/developer/1095600199)
- Category: Graphics & Design
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 58 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-09-13
- Data updated: 2026-10-18

## What is Protoboard Designer?

Go from circuit idea to production-ready Gerber file in minutes. No netlist. No learning curve. Just open the app and start building.
Protoboard Designer is a WYSIWYG PCB layout editor for makers, hobbyists, students, and anyone who finds KiCad or Altium overwhelming. Place components, route copper traces, and export your board — on your phone, tablet, or directly in your browser at protoboarddesigner.com.
Available on iOS and Web — your projects sync seamlessly across all your devices.
KEY FEATURES
• WYSIWYG PCB Layout — what you place on screen is exactly what gets manufactured. No surprises at the fab house.
• Gerber & PDF Export — send production-ready Gerber files directly to any PCB fab, or export a PDF to etch your own board at home.
• KiCad Footprint Import — use the built-in component library, import KiCad footprints, or add any public GitHub repository as a footprint source.
• Cloud Project Sync — your boards are automatically backed up and synced across iOS and Web. Start on your phone, finish in the browser — or vice versa.
• No Netlist Required — skip the schematic step entirely and jump straight to layout.
PERFECT FOR
• Makers and hobbyists designing perfboard, stripboard, or custom PCB layouts
• Students learning electronics and circuit board design
• Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and ESP32 tinkerers moving beyond breadboards
• Anyone wanting to go from idea to fabrication without weeks of learning software
WHY NOT KICAD OR ALTIUM?
Traditional EDA tools are powerful — but they're designed for professional engineers managing complex multi-layer boards. They take weeks to learn and are desktop-only. Protoboard Designer strips away everything you don't need for hobby and prototype work, so you can focus on building, not learning software.
Try the web app for free at protoboarddesigner.com — no install required. Or download now and sign in with Google to get started in seconds. No credit card required.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://protoboarddesigner.com/terms-of-service.html
Privacy Policy: https://protoboarddesigner.com/privacy-policy.html

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Maker | $5.99 | per month |
| Engineer | $12.99 | per month |


## Is Protoboard Designer safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Protoboard Designer.

## Is Protoboard Designer legit?

Protoboard Designer: PCB CAD has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Protoboard Designer is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.13.14 — 2026-10-09

• Array duplicate is free on every plan. On iPhone it opens as a sheet at the bottom of the screen with the board still in view, so you see the copies change as you type.
• Finishing a track works again: while you draw, the buttons above the board show the check mark to finish and the arrow that removes the last segment. Every point you have placed is now marked, so you can see where the track bends.
• Busy boards are smoother: selecting, panning, placing parts and routing tracks redraw only what changed, and tools respond the moment you tap them. An editor you are not touching no longer redraws the screen, which saves battery.
• The app opens faster, the footprint library uses about 100 MB less memory, and the library and Share & export open faster. The PDF export screen no longer freezes while it redraws its preview.
• Imports: text, board outlines and cut-outs now come in from Eagle and Sprint-Layout boards; Eagle boards come in at their real size; Sprint-Layout 5 boards (.lay) open; and pads, vias, copper pours and silkscreen come in the way Eagle, Sprint-Layout and KiCad draw them.
• Panning stops when your finger stops.

### 1.13.11 — 2026-10-05

• Now in Spanish, French, Korean, Turkish and Italian — every screen. Pick the language in Settings, or let the app follow your iPhone. An iPhone set to Filipino now gets the Filipino app too.
• Unsaved changes survive a crash. If the app closes before your latest changes are saved, it offers them back the next time you open it.
• Typing never hides the field any more: on an iPad in landscape the footprint search stays above the keyboard, and on an iPhone held sideways panels and dialogs open full screen.
• 147 new footprints — the library now holds 2,960 parts — including every USB connector in KiCad's library and Espressif's official ESP32 and ESP8266 modules. The USB, ESP32-WROOM-32 and ESP-12F pads now match the real parts: place them again before you order a board.
• KiCad boards import the way KiCad draws them, from KiCad 4 to today, and a KiCad ground pour no longer covers every pad.
• Footprint search finds more of what people type: KiCad names, order codes, "18dip", "100μF".
• Fixed: Sign in with Apple could stop working for good after an interrupted sign-in; the copper pour could cover a track; Modify together could pull a pin out of its part; and the Gerber export no longer tells iPhone and iPad users to use the web app.

### 1.13.8 — 2026-09-30

• Smoother on iPhone and iPad. Zooming and panning keep up with your finger, even on older iPads, and editing with a copper fill no longer stutters.
• A lighter, cleaner look on iPhone and iPad: the app now uses the same typeface as on Android and the web, and the tool bar sizes itself to your screen.
• Nothing runs off the screen on small iPhones any more. Dialogs scroll, buttons wrap onto a new line, and choices no longer split words in half.
• 440 new footprints — the library now holds 2,813 parts — including every QFN and DFN with its centre pad, power packages, TFT displays, Hi-Link modules and GPS and GSM modules.
• Fixed footprints that did not match the real chip: TQFP-32/44 and LQFP-32/44 (ATmega328P, ATmega32U4), MSOP-8, and the centre pad of the RP2040, ESP32-C3 and others. The Bosch BME280, BMP280 and BME680 footprints were mirrored. Footprints already on a board keep their old shape: place them again before you order.
• Clearer wording in every language.

### 1.13.3 — 2026-09-26

• 545 new footprints — the library now holds 2,373 parts, among them Phoenix terminal blocks, JST and Molex connectors, LCD and OLED displays, relays, rotary encoders and interface ICs.
• Footprint search understands how people actually type: misspellings, non-English names and shorthand such as "100nF" or "4k7" now find the part.
• Design-rule results, the net probe and the ruler open in a drawer along the bottom of the editor, beside the tools that fix a problem. Tapping a violation zooms to the problem itself, and the design rules have a dialog of their own.
• Aligning a reference photo is simpler: Align walks through Scale, Place and Lock, and you can drag the photo into place on the board.
• Sharing works on iPad. It failed there every time; the share menu now opens next to where you tapped.
• Exporting no longer opens the share sheet by itself when the file is kept in Exports — share it from its row there.
• With a keyboard attached, every tool has a one-key shortcut. Help → Keyboard shortcuts lists them all.
• Fixed: tracks that would not finish on some pads, an interrupted library update that could leave the library empty, several incorrect footprints, and several crashes. A failed subscription purchase now explains what went wrong, in your language.

### 1.12.3 — 2026-09-22

• Fewer crashes, and smoother thumbnails. Several crashes are fixed — including one that could close the app while exporting — and saving a board's thumbnail no longer makes the app stutter.
• The Würth 5.5 mm barrel jack is a through-hole part again. Boards that already use it keep the old copy — re-place the part to pick up the fix.
• Non-plated mounting holes now get their own drill file, so they no longer come back plated and undersized.
• The design-rule check now looks inside footprints, so boards that passed before may report real problems for the first time.
• Oval (slot) holes in through-hole pads — width, length and angle, for flat connector pins like DC barrel jacks and USB-C shields.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-18.*