Is There a Mobile App for Claude Code?

Claude Code has no official standalone mobile app. The built-in mobile path lives in the Code tab inside the Claude iOS and Android apps — Remote Control (mirrors a local session, requires Claude Max at $100–$200/month) and Cloud Sessions (Anthropic-hosted, available on Pro and above since September 23, 2026). Since February 2026, ten-plus independent tools have entered the space with meaningfully different architectures. The single decision that determines which tool fits your workflow: does your laptop need to stay on when the agent is running?

TL;DR

Claude Code doesn't have a dedicated mobile app. The official path is the Code tab in the Claude app (Remote Control or Cloud Sessions). Ten-plus third-party tools now fill the space — relay apps (laptop must stay on), cloud-VM apps (laptop can sleep), and WiFi-direct apps (local-network only). The architectural split matters more than any feature list. If your laptop can't stay on, look at Grass or CodeAgent Mobile. If you need to control 14 different agents from one app, AgentsRoom is the broadest option.

What mobile access does the official Claude app provide?

Claude Code's mobile presence lives entirely inside the Claude app (iOS and Android), not in a separate standalone application. The Code tab offers three access modes:

• Remote Control — mirrors a session already running in your local Claude Code CLI. Your laptop must stay awake and connected. Requires Claude Max ($100–$200/month). Shipped February 25, 2026. There is a documented reliability issue on iOS v2.1.58–2.1.59 where the app shows an onboarding screen instead of the session list after the CLI starts a session (GitHub issue 28758).
• Cloud Sessions — runs the agent in Anthropic's own infrastructure, so your laptop can sleep. Available to Pro subscribers and above. Generally available since September 23, 2026.
• Dispatch — a task you send as a message in the Claude app. Different mental model from session mirroring.

The official documentation confirms: "Claude Code doesn't have a separate mobile app: cloud sessions and Remote Control both live in the Code tab in the Claude app, and Dispatch is a task you message in the app."

Why did ten independent tools launch in sixty days?

One user pain point drove more third-party development than any other mobile feature: "Claude is blocked waiting for my approval and I'm not at my desk."

"I'd kick off a task, walk away, and then Claude would hit a permission prompt or ask a clarifying question — and just sit there waiting. By the time I got back to my desk, I'd lost 20 minutes." — Reddit r/ClaudeCode developer

This single interaction — approve or deny a tool call from your phone before the agent sits idle — is more requested than code editing on mobile, diff review, or anything else. The category grew from roughly three tools at the start of 2026 (Remote Control, Happy, Grass) to ten-plus by May 2026: AgentsRoom, Vicoa, CodeAgent Mobile, Omnara (YC S25), Paseo, Remoko, Remoat, Sesori, CC Pocket. Google Antigravity added native browser-based remote control on August 21, 2026.

The average developer checks their phone 58 times per day. Running AI agents that work autonomously for 5–15 minutes at a stretch means dozens of natural check-in opportunities — most of which are missed without mobile access.

The architectural split: the one decision that matters

Before comparing specific apps, the right question is: when your agent is mid-task, is your laptop on and connected?

Local relay (laptop must stay on)

A relay server — either self-hosted or cloud-hosted — routes encrypted traffic between your phone and your laptop. If your laptop sleeps, the agent dies. The advantage: you can reach your session from any network, not just your LAN.

Tools using this architecture: AgentsRoom, Happy, Remoko, Omnara, Claude Code Remote Control

WiFi-direct (same network, laptop must stay on, nothing leaves your LAN)

The mobile app connects directly to a local server running on your laptop over WiFi. No relay, no cloud hop. Zero external trust surface. Only works when your phone and laptop are on the same network.

Tools using this architecture: Grass CLI (@grass-ai/ide)

Cloud VM (laptop can sleep)

Your agent runs on a remote VM — not your laptop. You can close your MacBook, and the session keeps working. The tradeoff is that your code and prompts live on a third-party machine.

Tools using this architecture: Grass GrassVM (codeongrass.com), CodeAgent Mobile (GitHub Codespaces), Anthropic Cloud Sessions

This split is why feature comparisons often mislead developers: a relay app and a cloud-VM app can have identical mobile UI surfaces but completely different infrastructure assumptions — and only one of them works when your laptop is off.

Capability matrix: ten tools at a glance

Which tools deserve a closer look?

AgentsRoom — broadest agent support in a native app

AgentsRoom supports 14 CLIs with end-to-end encryption using X25519/XSalsa20-Poly1305 — the relay server cannot read your prompts or API keys. iOS and Android native apps. Updated through v2.22 on September 30, 2026. One developer who built a relay app described the trust model clearly: "The relay server is completely blind. It routes encrypted blobs between your phone and your machine. It literally cannot read your prompts, your code, or your API keys."

This is the most practical choice if you run Claude Code, Codex, and Antigravity side by side and want one app for all of them.

Vicoa — open-source, broadest agent count

Vicoa (Vibe Code Anywhere) launched August 28, 2026. AGPL-3.0 licensed and self-hostable. Supports 40+ agents via the ACP (Agent Communication Protocol). 350 GitHub stars in roughly five weeks. The agent breadth is unmatched — if you're experimenting with less common agents or need full control over the relay infrastructure for compliance or air-gapped environments, Vicoa is worth evaluating.

Grass — cloud VM removes the laptop dependency

Grass gives each user a dedicated always-on cloud VM (powered by Daytona) where the agent runs. The iOS app is native (4.7/5 App Store), Android is on a waitlist. The key differentiator is session persistence: your laptop can close, your internet can drop, and the agent keeps working. 68% of Grass sessions are started on iPhone, according to the product homepage.

Grass also ships an open-source CLI (@grass-ai/ide, MIT) for WiFi-direct use — install it globally, run grass start, scan a QR code, and control a Claude Code or OpenCode session locally with no relay. Getting Started with Grass in 5 Minutes walks through both the local CLI and cloud VM paths.

Grass is agent-agnostic — Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode are all first-class citizens — and is designed as a machine for running any coding agent, not a mobile interface for Claude Code specifically.

CodeAgent Mobile — GitHub Codespaces as the runtime

CodeAgent Mobile provisions a GitHub Codespaces workspace directly from the mobile app in approximately 60 seconds. 546 GitHub Marketplace installs. Supports multiple developers driving the same agent session — useful for teams where several people need approval rights on one running task.

Google Antigravity Remote Control — browser-based, no install

Antigravity's native Remote Control (launched August 21, 2026) is browser-first — no app store install needed. Requires Google AI Ultra. For Antigravity users who prefer a native app, both AgentsRoom and Vicoa support Antigravity as an agent. Remoat provides a third path: a Telegram bot that controls Antigravity via Chrome DevTools Protocol, with local Whisper voice input and 141 GitHub stars since March 2026. Remoat is not an app-store app — it's a chat-based control path with no native UI.

Omnara — YC S25, professional team

Omnara is a YC S25 company building a relay-based mobile client for Claude Code. 147 HN points on launch. The pricing tension was put plainly on HN: "Feels expensive for something that an engineer can hack in a couple of hours with tailscale and Claude Code." One HN commenter gave the honest use case: "I have caring responsibilities at home that means I'm constantly switching between my laptop and phone." At $20/month, the value is a maintained, polished product rather than a self-managed tmux + Tailscale setup.

Subscription lock-in is a real differentiator

Remote Control requires Claude Max at $100–$200/month. That cost is the most frequently cited reason developers look at third-party apps. AgentsRoom, Vicoa, Grass, Happy, and Paseo all work with any API key or cheaper subscription tier. For developers not yet on Claude Max, this is a meaningful cost difference — and it makes agent-agnostic tools structurally advantaged for developers who run multiple agents or want to avoid being locked to one subscription.

How do you choose between relay and cloud-VM?

Choose a relay app (AgentsRoom, Happy, Omnara, Remote Control) if:

• Your laptop stays on and connected during agent work
• You need cross-network access from anywhere, not just your LAN
• Multi-agent support across 10+ CLIs matters (AgentsRoom)
• Collaborative approvals from multiple phones are needed (CodeAgent Mobile)

Choose a cloud-VM app (Grass GrassVM, Anthropic Cloud Sessions, CodeAgent Mobile) if:

• Sessions need to survive your laptop sleeping — overnight tasks, commute dispatches
• You dispatch long-running tasks and check results later
• You want isolated, reproducible agent environments per project

Choose WiFi-direct (Grass CLI) if:

• You're on the same LAN as your laptop and want zero external trust surface
• Nothing about your project should leave your local network
• You want open-source MIT licensing with no cloud dependency

The Claude Code Remote Control setup guide covers the Anthropic-native path in detail if you're already on Claude Max and want to start there before evaluating third-party tools.

FAQ

Does Claude Code have a standalone mobile app?

No. Claude Code does not have a standalone mobile app. Mobile access is provided through the Code tab inside the existing Claude iOS and Android apps. It offers Remote Control (mirrors a local session, requires Claude Max) and Cloud Sessions (Anthropic-hosted, available on Pro and above). Third-party apps now fill the gaps this official path doesn't cover.

What is the difference between Remote Control and Cloud Sessions in the Claude app?

Remote Control mirrors a session already running in your local Claude Code CLI — your laptop must stay awake and connected. Cloud Sessions run entirely in Anthropic's infrastructure, so your laptop can sleep. Remote Control requires Claude Max ($100–$200/month). Cloud Sessions are available to Pro subscribers and above, and went generally available on September 23, 2026.

What is the best mobile app for Claude Code in 2026?

There is no single best answer — the right choice depends on the architectural question of where your agent runs. If your laptop must stay off: Grass GrassVM or CodeAgent Mobile (Codespaces). If you run multiple agents and want one app for all: AgentsRoom (14 agents, E2E encrypted, iOS + Android). If you need open-source and self-hostable: Vicoa (40+ agents, AGPL-3.0). If you're already on Claude Max: Remote Control in the Claude app is the lowest-friction starting point, though it has known reliability issues on some iOS versions.

How many mobile apps exist for Claude Code as of October 2026?

Ten-plus dedicated tools exist as of October 2026: Claude Code Remote Control, Anthropic Cloud Sessions, Grass (cloud VM and WiFi-direct CLI), AgentsRoom, Vicoa, CodeAgent Mobile, Google Antigravity Remote Control, Remoat (Telegram bot), Omnara, Happy, Paseo, and others. The category grew from roughly three tools to this count in approximately sixty days between February and May 2026.

Can I use Claude Code from my phone without a terminal?

Yes. Every major app in this category provides a purpose-built mobile UI — no terminal required. Permission forwarding (approve or deny tool calls), diff viewing, session history, and real-time streaming are standard features. "SSH on a phone is miserable. Port forwarding is a security nightmare. VNC felt like using a sledgehammer. So I built something purpose-built." — Reddit r/ClaudeCode developer. The mobile coding agent access explainer covers what purpose-built UI means in practice.

Is AgentsRoom or Grass the better choice for mobile Claude Code access?

They solve different problems. AgentsRoom is the best relay app for controlling 14 different CLIs from one native app with E2E encryption, provided your laptop stays on. Grass is the better choice when your laptop needs to sleep and you want a dedicated cloud VM that keeps running. They represent two sides of the relay-vs-cloud-VM architectural split, not competing implementations of the same solution.

Where to start

Start with the official Claude app Remote Control or Cloud Sessions if you're already on Claude Max or Pro — the integration is seamless and you don't introduce a third-party trust surface. If the Max subscription cost or Remote Control's reliability issues are blockers, the most natural alternatives are Grass (cloud VM persistence, agent-agnostic) and AgentsRoom (relay, 14 agents, E2E encrypted).

The permission-forwarding problem — getting alerted on your phone when your agent is blocked mid-task — is now solved across every major app in the category. The remaining differentiation is architecture: where does your agent actually run, and does it need your laptop to stay alive?

For a deeper look at building a notification pipeline when sessions need attention, Claude Code phone notifications covers the DIY and app-based paths side by side.

Grass is a machine built for AI coding agents — Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode pre-loaded on an always-on cloud VM, accessible from your phone, laptop, or automation. Free tier at codeongrass.com.