Run Claude Code and Codex from your phone

What you can do from a phone

From a phone, you can start a coding task, answer the agent's questions, approve its commands, and review what it changed. The agent itself runs somewhere else: in the agent vendor's cloud, on your own computer, on a server you manage, or on another product's cloud machine.

Where the agent runs determines the most important thing about phone access: whether the work keeps going while your laptop is closed. An agent on your own computer stops when that computer sleeps, so every option that controls your computer needs it to stay awake and online.

The Claude app

Claude Code doesn't have a separate mobile app. Its phone features live in the Code tab of the Claude app for iOS and Android, which you sign in to with the same claude.ai account you use for Claude Code. An Anthropic Console API key doesn't work for these features. To get the app, run /mobile in a Claude Code session. It shows a QR code that opens your phone's app store.

The Code tab has three features:

• Cloud sessions run each task in a fresh VM with your GitHub repository, so the work continues after you put your phone away. Pick a repository and branch, describe the task, and check on it later from any device. You can also ask Claude to watch a pull request and fix CI failures or review comments as they arrive.
• Projects, in public beta on Pro and Max, give you one ongoing conversation in which Claude starts parallel threads of work in the cloud and shows you which ones need your input.
• Remote Control connects the app to a Claude Code session running on your computer, so the agent keeps using your local files, tools, and MCP servers. Start it on your computer with claude remote-control, or run /remote-control in an open session, then scan the QR code or pick the session in the app. Claude can send push notifications when a task finishes or needs a decision. Photos and files you attach in the app reach your computer.

The Claude app can also message Dispatch, which runs a task through the Claude desktop app on your computer. Dispatch requires a Pro or Max plan and isn't available on Team or Enterprise.

Remote Control and Dispatch drive your own computer, so it has to stay on with Claude Code or the desktop app running. If it sleeps during a Remote Control session, Claude Code reconnects when it comes back online. A few things work only in the terminal, such as /plugin and /resume, and you can't choose Bypass permissions from the app.

The ChatGPT app for Codex

Codex Remote lets the ChatGPT app for iOS and Android start, guide, and review Codex tasks on a Mac or Windows computer running the ChatGPT desktop app. From your phone, you can start tasks, send new instructions while one runs, approve commands, and inspect changed files, diffs, and test results. OpenAI says availability depends on rollout and your workspace settings.

To set it up, open the ChatGPT desktop app, go to Settings → Connections → Control this Mac or PC, approve remote access, and scan the QR code with your phone. The computer has to stay awake, online, and signed in to the same ChatGPT account and workspace. Codex runs each task on that computer, using its projects, files, credentials, and tools.

Codex cloud tasks run on OpenAI's computers from an environment you publish, so they keep going while your computer is off.

An SSH app and tmux

You can reach an agent on a server you manage from any SSH app, such as Blink Shell or Termius on iPhone or Termux on Android. Run the agent inside tmux on the server so it keeps working after your phone disconnects, then reattach to it from your phone:

tmux attach -t agent

Typing into a terminal interface on a phone keyboard takes patience. For Claude Code, you can run claude remote-control inside tmux on the server instead, so the session runs on the server and you steer it from the Claude app. The Claude Code guide walks through setting up the server.

Running one server can be inexpensive. As of September 2026, a DigitalOcean Basic Droplet with 4 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory costs $48 a month. On AWS, an EC2 c7i.xlarge instance of the same size costs about $130 a month on demand in US East, before storage. The server is yours to maintain, and agents on it share its CPU, memory, ports, and databases. A server fits if you want one that stays up at the lowest cost, or if you like running your own server.

Phone apps from other agent tools

Several desktop apps for running agents have phone apps, and most of them connect to a computer or server you run. As of September 2026:

• Superset's iPhone app, on Pro, can continue terminal sessions, send prompts, review diffs, and merge pull requests on your computer while it stays awake, online, and running Superset. See Boxes.dev vs Superset.
• Orca's iOS and Android companions, in beta, reach agents on an SSH host or Orca server that stays awake and connected. See Boxes.dev vs Orca.
• T3 Code has desktop, web, iOS, and Android apps that connect to hosts you run. See Boxes.dev vs T3 Code.
• Conductor has an iPhone app alongside its Mac app, and its paid plans add cloud workspaces. See Boxes.dev vs Conductor.

Boxes.dev

Boxes.dev runs Claude Code and Codex on cloud machines that start as copies of your working development environment. Its iOS and Android apps let you work with those agents from anywhere while your laptop stays closed.

You'll start by setting up your app on a cloud machine called the Template box, with the tools, databases, services, and data it needs. Boxes.dev saves the Template box as a snapshot. Each task then runs on its own devbox: a full, isolated copy of that machine. The agent can start your app, test its changes in a browser, and reproduce bugs against real services and data, the way an engineer would before shipping. It can also take screenshots and record video for you to review.

From the boxes.dev app, you can:

• Start a task with Claude or Codex on a new devbox, with photos and files attached, or add a conversation to an existing devbox.
• Steer the agent while it works: queue a follow-up for after its current work, send a correction while it responds, or answer its questions and permission requests.
• Review its work by opening the files and diffs it links, which have syntax highlighting, and by viewing images and PDFs.
• Open a terminal on the devbox, with keys for Ctrl and paste.

A conversation is shared across the phone, desktop, and dvb CLI, so you can start a task at your desk and continue it from your phone. If the thread's Claude session is open in a terminal on your computer, you can take it over from your phone. You'll get a notification when an agent replies, fails, or needs your input, and tapping it opens the thread even when the app is closed.

A devbox goes to sleep after about five minutes when no agent is working and nobody is using it. Sleep keeps its files and memory, so dev servers, databases, and terminal sessions pick up where they left off when it wakes.

As of September 2026, the free trial includes 10 box-hours. Starter costs $19 per user each month, with 40 box-hours and up to four devboxes awake at once. Pro costs $99, with 250 box-hours and up to ten awake. Extra time costs $0.75 per box-hour on Starter and $0.60 on Pro. A box-hour is one default devbox awake for an hour, and sleeping devboxes don't use box-hours. See Plans, seats, and box-hours.

To get started, install the app from boxes.dev/m and see Use boxes.dev on your phone. You can also create a project from GitHub on the boxes.dev website from your phone.

How to choose

• You use Claude Code and the task needs only your GitHub repository: cloud sessions in the Claude app.
• The session is already running on your computer, and the computer will stay on: Remote Control for Claude Code, or Codex Remote in the ChatGPT app.
• You want a server that stays up at the lowest cost, or you like running your own server: an SSH app with tmux, or Remote Control from the server.
• You want Claude Code and Codex to work on your full app while your laptop is closed, with a terminal and file review on your phone: Boxes.dev.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Claude Code mobile app?

Claude Code's phone features are in the Code tab of the Claude app for iOS and Android. From there, you can run cloud sessions and projects, or control a session on your computer with Remote Control.

Can I use Codex from my phone?

Yes. Codex Remote in the ChatGPT app controls Codex on a Mac or Windows computer running the ChatGPT desktop app, and that computer has to stay awake. The boxes.dev iOS and Android apps connect to Codex on cloud devboxes.

Does my computer have to stay on?

It does for Remote Control, Dispatch, Codex Remote, and apps that connect to your own computer. It doesn't for Claude Code cloud sessions, Codex cloud tasks, a server you manage, or boxes.dev devboxes.

Sources

• Anthropic: Claude Code on mobile, Remote Control, and Run agents in parallel.
• OpenAI: Codex Remote, remote connections, and Codex environments.
• DigitalOcean: Droplet pricing.
• AWS: EC2 On-Demand pricing.
• Superset, Orca, T3 Code, and Conductor: the sources listed on each comparison page.
• Boxes.dev: Use boxes.dev on your phone, Notifications, Start and continue a thread, Sleep, wake, and recover a devbox, and Plans, seats, and box-hours.