Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Codex users have been asking OpenAI for a way to remotely control sessions with the tool from ChatGPT on their phones.
- New text strings in the Android app reveal the company’s work towards this goal.
Access to powerful AI models is changing the way software developers get their jobs done, and while some of you may roll your eyes every time you hear about vibe coding, there’s little denying that putting the right tools into the hands of capable devs can really enhance their productivity. Today we’re taking an early look at a big upgrade on the way for one of the most popular options out there, as ChatGPT gets ready to bring Codex users a frequently demanded new feature.
Going back months now, Codex users have been taking to the likes of Github and Reddit to voice versions of the same complaint: While Anthropic’s Claude offers the ability to work on coding tasks remotely, connecting to the agent on their PCs by way of their smartphones, Codex has lacked an equivalent ability. While some users have thrown together their own hacks to pull off something similar, demand for native support hasn’t stopped.
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Looking through the changes present in version 1.2026.125 of ChatGPT for Android, we’ve identified a number of text strings that seem to quite clearly reference exactly the sort of Codex smartphone control users have been craving:
Code
Make sure Codex is open on your desktop computer, then try again.
Make sure Codex is open on your desktop computer and signed into the same account.
Looking for Codex desktop…
Trying to restore your remote session.
Reconnecting to Codex desktop…
Codex on this environment is out of date. Restart Codex, then try again.
Restart CodexThat’s just the tip if the iceberg, and the more we dig, the more references we find to this being on the way:
Code
Creates a launcher shortcut that opens Codex.
Codex shortcut added.
Add Codex shortcut
An AI agent that helps you build and understand anything.
Codex uses the power of your desktop computer to build software and do complex work.
Sign into the Codex desktop app with your ChatGPT account (%1$s).
Follow the instructions in the desktop app to get connected.
Show Remote composer commands and references.
Type $ for skills and MCP servers, or @ for plugins.
/help opens this local help sheet. /status shows Remote thread details. /plan toggles Plan Mode for the next Remote turn.
Remote composer help
MCP server
MCP
Codex Remote model settings: %1$sWe’re not yet able to bring you a preview of the tool in a usable state, but some screens we have managed to pull up hint at this coming support:
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
Considering how long Codex users have been begging OpenAI for remote phone control, we really hope it’s not much longer now before the company puts the finishing touches on it and deploys this upgrade to hordes of very eager devs.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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