The best phone apps for Claude Code and Codex in 2026

We make Melta, one of the apps below. We've tried to describe the others the way their own sites and store listings do, with links so you can check.

What matters for agents, specifically

A general SSH client is judged on terminal fidelity, key management and SFTP. For coding agents the questions are different:

• Does it tell you when an agent needs you? Agents block on permission prompts and questions. Without a push notification you're polling.
• Can you answer without a full keyboard? "Allow" should be one tap.
• How do you move between several agents? Key chords into tmux on a phone keyboard, or a real list.
• What has to run on the computer? Nothing extra, a helper process, or a whole agent runtime.
• Does it survive the phone going away? Through a multiplexer, Mosh, or its own protocol.

At a glance

Claude Code Remote Control

The one to try first if you only use Claude Code. Start a session with claude --remote-control, scan the QR code, and the same conversation appears in the Claude mobile app: messages, permission prompts, subagent progress, and you can send photos. Everything still runs on your computer with your files and MCP servers. Per Anthropic's docs it requires a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan (not API keys), the claude process must stay running, each interactive session takes one remote connection, and some slash commands work only in the terminal.

Good for: a single agent, no extra software, the official experience. Not for: Codex or other agents, seeing your shells and dev servers, or many sessions at once without running its server mode.

Moshi

Moshi is the most complete option. It's a real terminal with Mosh (connections survive sleep and network changes), plus an agent layer: an inbox of approvals and questions, Live Activities and Apple Watch approvals, a chat view built from the agent's own session log, a diff viewer, file browser and voice input. It understands tmux, Zellij and Herdr. The agent features need its moshi-hook helper installed and running on the computer. It supports a long list of agents beyond Claude Code and Codex. 4.7 stars from 546 ratings on the US App Store at the time of writing; pricing is free to start with Pro at $7.99/month, $69.99/year or $249 lifetime.

Good for: people who want one app for everything, tmux users, patchy networks. Watch for: the most useful parts are Pro, and there's a helper to keep updated on the computer.

Melta

Our app, so read accordingly. Melta only works with Herdr and is built around the phone rather than the desktop: your workspaces and panes are a native list, each pane opens full-screen, Jump To groups agents by needs you, working and done, and one key flips back to the last pane. Claude Code and Codex show as chat, read from their session logs, with the terminal one tap away. Nothing extra runs on the computer; a small Herdr plugin sends the notifications. Setup is one pasted command that adds the phone's key and installs Herdr and the plugin. No Mosh, no voice, no Watch. It's free. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play; we wrote a fuller comparison with Moshi.

Good for: Herdr users who mostly check on agents and answer them from the phone. Not for: tmux, or anyone who needs it today.

Termius

Termius is the cross-platform SSH client: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, with saved hosts, SFTP, port forwarding and Mosh. It knows nothing about agents, so you run tmux and drive it by hand, and there are no notifications. Free with a local vault and no sync between devices; Pro at $10/month (billed yearly) adds sync across devices, snippets and session logs.

Good for: people who already use it for servers and want the same app for the odd agent check. Not for: working sessions with agents.

Blink Shell

Blink Shell is the power user's iOS terminal: excellent Mosh, SSH with every key type, Tailscale-friendly, external keyboard and display support, plus a way to run VS Code in the browser against a remote. It's open source (GPL) and $19.99/year after a 14-day trial. No agent features and no notifications. Its App Store rating is 3.1 from 419 ratings, largely about the move to subscription.

Good for: iPad with a keyboard, long terminal sessions on bad networks, people who want to audit their terminal's code. Not for: Android, or one-tap approvals.

Claudette Echo

Claudette Echo is a free iOS SSH terminal made for Claude Code sessions: an extended keyboard row, tmux support, a context gauge and agent tree, voice input with spoken summaries, SFTP and Wake-on-LAN. It's from a small developer and had too few ratings to show a score when we checked. If you want a free, purpose-built terminal and don't need push notifications, it's worth a look.

Honourable mentions

• Prompt 3 (Panic): a polished SSH client for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro that also supports Mosh and Eternal Terminal. Free download with in-app purchases; no agent features.
• Termux (Android): a full Linux environment on the phone. You can install ssh and mosh inside it and connect the manual way. Powerful, not friendly.
• Cloud IDEs and hosted agents (Codespaces, cloud sandboxes): a different model where the agent runs in someone else's cloud. Fine if you don't have a machine of your own; the rest of this list assumes you do.

How to choose

• Only Claude Code, don't want to install anything: Remote Control.
• Several agents, tmux, bad networks, iPad or Watch: Moshi.
• Herdr, phone-first, minimal footprint: Melta, once it's out.
• You mostly manage servers and occasionally peek at an agent: Termius or Blink, with tmux.

Whatever you pick, the computer-side setup is the same: Tailscale, SSH, a multiplexer. Our phone setup guide covers it.

Sources

• Claude Code docs: Remote Control
• Moshi on the App Store and Moshi docs: Chat View
• Termius pricing
• Blink Shell on the App Store
• Claudette Echo on the App Store