OpenAI brings Codex controls to the ChatGPT mobile app
IOS and Android preview lets users approve commands and switch models remotely, agentic coding shifts from desktop tool to always-on workflow
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techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
Dario Amodei
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
OpenAI has added its Codex coding agent to the ChatGPT mobile app, letting users monitor and steer running development work from iOS and Android. According to TechCrunch, the feature is rolling out in preview and is available across ChatGPT plans, turning the phone into a control surface for tasks that may be executing elsewhere.
The change matters less as a new coding interface than as a shift in where “agentic” developer tools live. Codex is designed to run tasks in a live environment and produce outputs that a user can review, approve, or modify; the mobile integration extends that workflow beyond the desk. OpenAI says users can work across threads, review outputs, approve commands, switch models, or start new tasks from a phone, and can view Codex live environments on any device where they are running. That builds on earlier steps to make the agent persist: last month OpenAI enabled Codex to run in the background on desktop, and earlier in May it introduced a Chrome extension to let Codex operate inside live browser sessions.
The competitive pressure is visible in the feature list. Anthropic shipped a similar remote-monitoring capability for its Claude Code product in February, called Remote Control, and TechCrunch frames the latest OpenAI update as part of a race over which agentic coding tool becomes the default in workplaces. Over the past year, Anthropic’s Claude Code has gained traction with businesses and technical users, suggesting that distribution and workflow integration can matter as much as raw model quality once companies have standardised on a tool.
Mobile control also changes the economics of supervision. When an agent can execute steps autonomously in the background, the bottleneck becomes human review and approval, not typing. Putting approvals on a phone makes it easier to keep work moving—while also normalising the idea that software changes can be initiated, checked, and green-lit from anywhere, including away from the systems they affect.
OpenAI launched Codex about a year ago. It is now being shipped inside the ChatGPT app, in preview, as a feature users can reach in their pocket.