Feature idea: Codex Mobile Control inside ChatGPT

[petritbahtiri24]

OpenAI should let users control Codex directly from the ChatGPT mobile app.

Problem

Developers often start Codex tasks from VS Code or web, then leave their desk. Today, mobile is mostly passive. Users cannot easily monitor, pause, approve, redirect, or resume Codex work while away.

Proposal

Add a “Codex Tasks” panel inside the ChatGPT iOS/Android app where users can:

- View active Codex sessions

- See current task status, logs, changed files, and diffs

- Approve or reject risky actions

- Send follow-up instructions by chat or voice

- Pause, resume, or cancel tasks

- Receive push notifications when Codex needs input

- Review PR summaries before merge

- Track credits used per task

MVP

1. Read-only task status

2. Push notification: “Codex needs approval”

3. Mobile approve/reject buttons

4. Simple follow-up prompt box

5. Diff summary, not full IDE editing

Why it matters

This turns Codex into a real asynchronous engineering assistant. Developers could start work on desktop, review progress from the phone, and unblock Codex without being physically at the laptop.

Safety controls

- No auto-merge from mobile by default

- Require explicit approval for destructive commands

- Show estimated credit impact before continuing large tasks

- Enterprise admins can disable mobile approvals

- Full audit log for every mobile action

One-line pitch

“Let developers manage Codex like a remote engineering teammate — start on desktop, supervise from mobile, approve safely, and keep work moving.”

[OpenAI_Support]

Hey @petritbahtiri24, this is a solid idea, especially the “desktop start, mobile supervise” flow. A lot of devs already treat Codex like an async teammate, so the gap becomes obvious the moment you step away from the laptop.

The MVP breakdown also feels realistic. Read-only status + approval notifications alone would already remove a lot of friction without turning mobile into a full IDE.

The safety section is especially helpful here too. Things like explicit approval for destructive actions, audit logs, and admin controls make the proposal feel practical instead of just “remote terminal on a phone.”

Forwarding this to the team so it’s properly logged and tracked internally. The push notification + approve/reject workflow seems like the strongest near-term win based on how people are already using Codex today.

Really good write-up overall. Easy to understand and easy to picture in real workflows.

-Mark G.

[VeitB]

Hi @petritbahtiri24!

Codex mobile apps have been requested several times. I created a list of related feature requests from the official Codex GitHub repo, where you can add your vote to your personal favorites, or all of them.

I have a feeling, just a feeling, that we may not have to wait too long for the team to release something.

Click here to see the full list

#9224 — Codex Remote Control: Codex Remote Control · Issue #9224 · openai/codex · GitHub

#11810 — Codex Android app and Codex daemon: Codex Android app and Codex daemon · Issue #11810 · openai/codex · GitHub

#11820 — Send Codex notifications to ChatGPT phone app: Send Codex notifications to chatgpt phone app · Issue #11820 · openai/codex · GitHub

#14164 — Mobile companion to view/control desktop sessions: Feature request: mobile companion to view and control Codex desktop sessions · Issue #14164 · openai/codex · GitHub

#16809 — Planned task support in iOS App: Planned task support in iOS App · Issue #16809 · openai/codex · GitHub

#19681 — Codex iOS App control Codex on Mac: Codex IOS App control codex on Mac · Issue #19681 · openai/codex · GitHub

#19887 — Remote Control blocking migration from Claude Code: Remote Control is blocking full migration from Claude Code to Codex · Issue #19887 · openai/codex · GitHub

#20757 — Mobile companion sync for desktop and cloud tasks: Mobile companion sync for desktop and cloud tasks · Issue #20757 · openai/codex · GitHub

#5559 — Voice Dictation/Whisper Input Mode on iPhone/iPad/iOS: Voice Dictation/Whisper Input Mode (Codex App on iPhone/iPad/iOS) · Issue #5559 · openai/codex · GitHub

#17787 — Codex CLI support on Android/Termux: please add termux/android support so i can codex on the go... · Issue #17787 · openai/codex · GitHub

#3246 — Android/Bionic support: code cli for bionic android? · Issue #3246 · openai/codex · GitHub

[hunter_h]

Yeah, the Codex team have hinted pretty strongly that something is coming. Hopefully soon!

[EricGT]

I was tracking hooks for months in the GitHub Codex commits, then saw

Hooks are ready to graduate to GA in the next release!

It pays to check the commits daily.

[petritbahtiri24]

Thank you all honestly — I really appreciate the feedback and the discussion around the idea.

What makes me happiest is not even the feature itself, but seeing that the workflow actually resonates with how people are already using Codex today. That “desktop start, mobile supervise” pattern felt natural to me from a DevOps / operational workflow perspective, so seeing others immediately understand the value is genuinely exciting.

I’m also really happy the safety and approval concepts connected, because for systems like this to work long-term they need to feel practical, auditable, and trustworthy — not just futuristic.

And honestly, it’s awesome seeing the Codex ecosystem evolving this quickly. Hooks, approvals, orchestration, long-running workflows, browser integrations… it feels like we’re watching the early foundations of a much bigger operational platform being built in real time.

Really honored the idea was forwarded internally and discussed seriously. Thanks again everyone.

[alexiss]

Is this already in your backlog guys?
Would be good to have an ETA, that feature’s really useful in Claude-code.

[locl]

I do find it funny-strange (japanese word “o-ka-shii-nehh”) when people do not think outside the box.

Here are some steps to get you exactly what you need, by treating a phone as what it is: a computer.

Step 1: get a Redmagic Pro v7 or other high-end phone with twice the RAM of most people’s everyday laptops.

Step 2: install F-Droid

Step 3: install termux

Step 4: download and install the “start-debian.sh schroot script”

Step 5: create an ordinary user environment (assuming you are a sane developer who under no circumstances touches windows with a 10ft barge pole this is a doozy).

(Step 4.9 you installed openssh-server and logged in remotely to your phone from your desktop, or you ran an ssh tunnel out)

Step 6: you googled “codex app linux arm64 download” and downloaded the codex cli

Step 7 (or step 4.8): to make your life easier you bought a bluetooth keyboard cheap off of Amazon and even looked one up that has a trackpad

Step 8: you experimented with installing the port of X11 to Android that is packaged under F-Droid, and apt-get installed xterm and even fvwm2 or xfce4, and gave up as it was just a pain in the neck.

Basically your phone is not actually a phone: it’s a fully-functioning computer with a linux kernel, and the moment you recognise that and think outside the box then yes, you can in fact turn it into something that will run your standard full build environment.

Note I didn’t say manage a pre-existing build environment on another machine (for which you csn just do “termux then apt-get install openssh-client” and remote login to your desktop machine)

I did actually say “run a full development build environment”. If you get a USB3 dongle off of Amazon you can even plug in Gigabit Ethernet, an HDMI monitor, and external USB HDDs and SSDs.

Several FOSS developers have been doing this for some time (using phones to run gcc and full build environments). If you want actual root access and still have something that makes phone calls I recommend tracking down something that can run LineageOS as a second phone.

peace.

[OpenAI_Support]

Hey folks, the long wait is over.

Thanks @vb for sharing it here.

https://community.openai.com/t/now-in-preview-codex-in-the-chatgpt-mobile-app/1380940

[locl]

The other method (which I also paradoxically used on linux by installing xrdp server) is to remote-ssh tunnel rdesktop and enable RDP on your windows machine. Once debian schroot is installed under termux “apt-get install rdesktop” is trivial, and setting up and using a VPN and/or ssh tunnel for the RDP protocol is a google-search exercise.

You’d be surprised at how effective rdesktop is on running/managing a remote windows machine. YMMV if you try the same trick (xrdp server) on linux as it uses image-tiling via vnc as a hack and it can be horribly slow as a result.

So there are three routes;

1. “Manage” your system via the codex app,

2. Install a full developer environment under arm64
3. rdesktop or other “manage” remote KVM.

Anyone else remember / heard of freenx / nomachine?

[locl]

@OpenAI_Support

Hey @petritbahtiri24, this is a solid idea, especially the “desktop start, mobile supervise” flow.

I can’t be the only person in the world that does ChatGPT development on a smartphone with 16 GB of RAM and a 3 Ghz Octa-core ARM64 processor as an actual developer environment, can I, even though it’s running Android?

pdflatex, Makefiles, python http server to escape the chroot jail, git push/pull to share with the desktop system, rclone to sync with google drive…