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Codex is now in the ChatGPT mobile app

339 pointsby mikeevansyesterday at 8:06 PM169 commentsview on HN

Comments

pickleRick243today at 3:57 AM

(Someone deleted a comment about why you'd want a mobile Codex app. This is the answer I wrote.)

Once you've used these coding agents a lot, you develop a pretty intuitive feel for how they work, what they're capable of, what they're good at, and where their weaknesses are. Hopefully, you're already pretty familiar with the code base you're working on. Combining the two, this means you can get quite far essentially "vibe coding" (i.e. not looking at the actual code) on a new branch.

So if you have some idea or some issue you want to fix on the go, you just iterate with the agent for a bit (presumably no more than a couple hours) until the agent outputs an implementation. Here, I do claim there is some "skill" (which is a function of your codebase familiarity, general SWE ability, and facility with AI agents), and if you're good, this implementation will be halfway decent a high percentage of the time. Then when you're back at your desktop, you can review the changes carefully/do some proper testing/debugging etc. But you've saved a good chunk of time- an initial draft is already waiting for you.

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Alifatiskyesterday at 9:26 PM

Whats crazier is that Codex is free. I thought I had to pay to even try it out but nope, you can use the desktop app or cli for free, its apparently included in the free plan. You just have to sign in to your ChatGPT account.

Of course I am aware that the caveat here is that all my interaction is part of training, but I’m fine with that. Even Qwen Cli discontinued the free plan.

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jumploopsyesterday at 10:33 PM

I’ve been using Codex from my phone for the past couple of months (through a tunnel, not this app).

I was initially quite excited, but I’ve found the results are less than great compared to being at a keyboard.

Something about the smaller screen size and/or lack of keyboard causes me to direct the agent less, which in turn creates more tech debt/code churn/etc.

Maybe I’m just showing my age, and I should practice voice dictation or something more, but my thoughts flow faster and more clearly on a keyboard (less ums).

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tasukitoday at 9:04 AM

The right way to do this is Google Jules: the boundary is a git repository, the interface is a chat window you can open anywhere (yes, even simultaneously), the output is a diff you can choose to merge.

But, for whatever reason, no one uses Google Jules.

I don't want my phone to have the ability to execute things on my computer. Much less with a LLM in-between!

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mindmeshtoday at 4:19 AM

The ability to unblock or redirect longer-running work from a phone seems underrated. Curious how often people will actually manage active coding threads this way.

vohkyesterday at 9:47 PM

Dang, I thought this was going to be integration for Codex Cloud, not the (still not available for Linux) Codex App. Not even Codex CLI, alas. You can still access the Cloud option from a mobile browser well enough but I prefer an app UI for poking at the things on the go.

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reassess_blindyesterday at 11:03 PM

Is there a native way to work remotely with Claude/Codex on a local folder or git repo on your main machine without having to connect it to GitHub? For creating apps for personal use I’d rather just keep the files local.

Edit: Running into issues setting it up on Windows. There's no "/remote-control" command in the CLI, so I installed the Windows Codex app. Then I updated the iOS app which now has the "Codex" feature in the sidebar, which should allow remote access to the Windows machine's instance - except it doesn't connect. The iOS app shows my desktop's hostname, so it knows there's an instance there, but refuses to connect. Issues like this would persuade a lot of folks to switch back to Claude.

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brtkwrtoday at 7:34 AM

Just tried it and it doesn't work... won't let me create a new task as the repo selection is disabled... works fine on my laptop on the other hand and have been using it for some time.

Rianytoday at 7:32 AM

The best part is you don't have to stay at home waiting codex thinking, you can go out grab a coffee while connect your Codex and ask it to work

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arend321today at 8:13 AM

I've been trying out various mobile, ai-assisted coding workflows.

Packing a Linux mini-pc in my rucksack, connected to display glasses, and voice-to-text with handy. Voice to text gets injected into a remote (Docker) codex session, running a hot reload web stack. I prompt to implement various features in an existing code base, where codex understands the structure and requirements. If a feature is done, I take a moment to inspect the results on the display glasses, then move onto the next feature or keep iterating. It's not perfect, but I was able to implement a couple of not too complex features while walking my local national park. The display glasses have a built-in 4-microphone array, and solid speakers. No need for a bulky headset or earbuds. Glasses come with monochromatic dimming, you can easily switch between dimming and see through.

If this comes with Linux integration, I will certainly give it a try.

fluder_twtoday at 8:46 AM

Wondering is it only me who vibe coded PWA mobile IDE and remote agent hosted on the laptop, which uses claude -p and local code to allow coding via mobile?

gchamonlivetoday at 4:15 AM

This is good not because I could work on code on the go. Codex excels not only at that but also at crunching through text. It's nice that now I can get an agent in my phone that understands my notes in Logseq. It's like my journals can now talk back to me.

jwilliamstoday at 4:54 AM

I wish they'd have done this in a separate Codex app. On desktop I greatly prefer having Codex separate from ChatGPT... As compared to Claude, which is growing so fast and adding features so quickly it seems bolted together (I get why they do it, integrations/MCP-wise).

This specific feature is more akin to Remote Control in Claude. You could already kick off Codex Cloud tasks (although it's just a little more fiddly to do so).

If you can move to Codex Cloud (or "Claude Code for the Web"), I think it's the superior approach. Start it there, and just pick it up from the PR if necessary.

mlaretallacktoday at 4:35 AM

A while ago I created a telegram bridge for AWS Kiro CLI, this allows my to talk to the agent running on my server from anywhere. Any remote access to any of these agents is a massive game changer, it means that you don't need to hover infront of the pc while it works away at the problems. It changes your workflow, but I do find you need to force yourself to "turn off", its easy to do that with the PC, eg, just walk away, but when you can just "get the agent to do one more change" while waiting to pick the kids up or taking the dog for a walk, it can get difficult to stop.

breatheoftentoday at 1:35 AM

This is extremely what Ive been wanting -- I had previously thought about using one of the hackish apps that try to deliver this experience - or spinning up something for this myself ... - but integrating this directly is definitely the right way to provide the best system and product experience -- and this seems to work out of the box exactly as I would want!

cooper_gangliatoday at 5:12 AM

This is the EXACT evolution of this product that I've wanted. For simple tasks on some of my desktop machines, I don't want to mess with SSH or remoting into them, I just want to tell an AI agent what I need, let it build a plan that I press "Approve" on, and let it rip. This is the ClawdBot killer!

throwatdem12311today at 2:17 AM

> Stay connected to active work from anywhere

And here I thought AI was gonna automate the world and we were gonna work less.

Turns out you’re gonna work 24/7 no matter where you are!

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mrasongtoday at 8:31 AM

Well, this just made it even easier to keep coding away from the desk.

miohtamatoday at 12:03 AM

I have been using Omnara now some months, on desktop and mobile. It's web/mobile remote for Claude and Codex.

I can do some tasks on mobile, especially if they are follow up and steering only, greatly increasing productivity as you can keep working whilst in transit, etc.

rexthonyytoday at 7:07 AM

As the winner of the everything app is revealed, I foresee this feature integrated in it. One platform to manage all agents by any provider.

charlie90today at 3:39 AM

Nice. Next step is giving codex/Claude Code local device control...problem is the current ios/android are so locked down that agents can't do much ...but the space is so ripe for disruption that I bet we'll see AI-native devices coming out within the next few years that allow agents to interact with everything. I would be nervous if I were apple right now.

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asadmyesterday at 9:48 PM

I use Termius on my phone to remote and make agent do stuff while i chill or am on road. This seems useful too.

satvikpendemtoday at 4:22 AM

Somewhat related, some of these AI remote coding apps are iOS, what are people using for Android? Looks like some people are using terminal emulators to ssh into their machine and use the LLM CLIs but that seems clunky.

mintflowtoday at 4:13 AM

Oh no, I am just adding codex integration to my app with in-app tailscale networking, communicating with codex app server via websocket over tailscale

But I will still consider to release it anyways

GanteRooibostoday at 7:50 AM

So we can finally stop tailscale + ssh + codex. Nice

GTonehourtoday at 6:23 AM

This feature could well be the reason OpenAI hired Peter Steinberger (OpenClaw).

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Jimidesuutoday at 3:12 AM

So Codex is also heading towards 'portability' and I can see that here but I bet this will take time before it's cleanly optimized for mobile hard use

iridioneyesterday at 10:24 PM

This is neat! Now I'm curious, what's left to innovate in the coding agent space? Sure there are the usual suspects like maintenance, security, reliability and other scalability improvements and looks like they will be addressed in the next year or two.

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boodleboodletoday at 1:54 AM

Could Codex CLI get this support also? I am sure a lot of us are running remote linux machines with Nvidia GPUs, with codex CLI running

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jsemrautoday at 1:21 AM

I don't understand OpenAI's product strategy.

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az226today at 5:10 AM

This sucks. Codex was already in the mobile app. And Codex in the browser or in the app sucks because it's not the same as local Codex (VS Code or CLI). And you can't pick the model. Sucks a$$.

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oulipo2today at 8:40 AM

> Start investigating a bug while waiting for your coffee.

So the whole idea is not to make work more efficient. It's just to make you work more, all the time, while waiting for your coffee, while in your commute.

Ask yourselves: is that the society we want?

imjonsetoday at 4:24 AM

Hammock-driven development will get a new meaning.

ahmadyanyesterday at 11:43 PM

i'm not sure if i'm hallucinating, but i swear i had codex in the chatGPT app from long time ago (like the original codex on the web).

they added some new stuff, like remote control to wherever the desktop codex app is running, but these companies need to work much more on their press releases.

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Squabyesterday at 10:19 PM

friends, you don’t have to always be productive. leave the agent on the computer and take care of yourself.

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Razenganyesterday at 11:35 PM

Codex has been great in the last 3-4 months I've been using it, almost exclusively to review existing GDScript code, and this was the feature I wanted most, because with gamedev you get the best ideas when you're out and about or in bed :)

Claude on the other hand has been jank all around from the UX to the UI to the AI itself that it's baffling how it's more popular here on HN: https://i.imgur.com/jYawPDY.png

Sadly this remote control feature doesn't seem to be for Mac to Mac yet? I love the MacBook Neo as a "thin client" for AI and keep the MacBook Pro at home/hotel, and it would be nice to share Codex desktop sessions (without SSH → resume link)

schnitzelstoatyesterday at 9:35 PM

This is really useful for when you just need to approve plans or make small decisions.

tekacsyesterday at 9:29 PM

It's refreshing that unlike Anthropic's Remote Control, this actually... works.

Feels like a testament to the value in taking time and doing it properly.

Now if only codex got its 1M token context window back.

---

Edit: Hmmm. Maybe I spoke too soon. Sigh. Definitely _more_ reliable by far overall, but still have queued messages with responses on my phone that don't show up on my computer, and responses that don't show up on my phone.

Edit 2: New threads created from my phone seem to have a little stall-out, but ones that are underway are behaving reasonably well.

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xenophonftoday at 5:43 AM

Can someone explain how the ChatGPT Codex Connector works in concert with GitHub access controls? I am not sure how to add it to my GitHub repositories, accounts, or organizations without potentially giving any OpenAI customer access.

breatheoftentoday at 1:33 AM

This is super nice!!!!!!

Loranubitoday at 1:33 AM

macOS only so far. "Windows is coming soon"

impulser_yesterday at 11:15 PM

Say what you want about OpenAI, but their software is actually pretty dam good especially compared to Anthropic and Google. Anthropic is just sloppy, and Google just doesn't live on this planet.

Both of the Codex apps are very good.

I tried this out and it works significantly better than Claude's remote control in fact the first few times I tried Claude's remote control it didn't even work and to this day is very buggy.

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fHryesterday at 10:39 PM

rust and opensource W

sbinneetoday at 12:13 AM

I don't like this direction. For accessibility aspect, sure it is good. But Codex is a coding product. I am increasingly concerned of lack of reviewing practice. I doubt that a mobile app is good for reviewing code changes.

> Stay connected to active work from anywhere

... (and anytime because it's on your phone). No thanks.

3ceeetoday at 5:51 AM

Nigerian engineers are going to have a time of their lives

m3kw9today at 3:17 AM

Buggy af though

cyanydeezyesterday at 11:30 PM

opencode behind a nginx proxy with a standard user/password is sufficiently powerful. You can also upgrade to https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-code-server/ and run any vscode plugins; opencode's plugin is pretty rudimentry but cline has been making a lot of strides.

You can run your local LLM and just connect the docker containers. I'm paranoid of being disconnected from the LLM, so I never run any of this on the same machine, so orchestrating a docker-compose file that provides the necessary services is important.

I'm still trying to find a good remote file system to loop into the setup for improved switching between cli and these web containers.

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