Claude Code From Your Phone: Remote Control Done Right
How to run Claude Code from your phone with Remote Control: start /rc on your computer, open the Code tab in the Claude app, and steer work from anywhere.
You can control Claude Code from your phone with Remote Control: the session keeps running on your computer, and the official Claude app (or claude.ai/code in any browser) becomes a live window into it. Start a task at your desk, run /rc, and ten minutes later you're approving changes from the couch — same conversation, same project, same local files.
Let me set expectations before the magic: your phone is the remote, not the engine. The code runs on your machine, which must stay on, awake, and connected. The phone-only alternative — Claude Code on the web, where tasks run in Anthropic's cloud — is a separate thing; this guide covers Remote Control, the one that uses your real local environment.
How to control Claude Code from your phone
Three ingredients: Claude Code v2.1.51 or later on your computer (check with claude --version), the official Claude app on your phone, and one command to bridge them. Once connected, the conversation stays in sync across every device — you can type a message in the terminal, the next one from your phone, and Claude treats it as one continuous session. Your files, MCP servers, and project configuration all stay available, and typing @ on the phone even autocompletes file paths from your local project.
Pair your phone in five minutes
- 1Update Claude Code and verify the version: run claude update, then claude --version (you need v2.1.51+, and a Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan signed in via /login — API keys won't work).
- 2Install the official Claude app on your phone from the App Store or Google Play. Already in the terminal? Run /mobile and scan the download QR code it shows.
- 3In your project directory, start a session and run /remote-control — or its short form /rc — to expose the current conversation. Want a recognizable name in the list? Type /rc My Project.
- 4Connect from the phone: open the Claude app, tap Code in the navigation, and find your session — Remote Control sessions show a computer icon with a green dot when online. Or open the status panel in the terminal and scan the QR code to jump straight in.
- 5Send a message from the phone and watch it appear in your terminal. From here both screens are equal players.
Can you install Claude Code on Android or iPhone?
There is no standalone 'Claude Code mobile app' to install — and you don't need one. The regular Claude app for iOS and Android contains the Code tab, which serves two purposes: it's the remote for sessions running on your computer (Remote Control), and it's the front door to cloud sessions (Claude Code on the web). So when people search 'Claude Code on Android', the honest answer is: install the Claude app, and let your computer or Anthropic's cloud do the heavy lifting.
Do you need a paid plan for this?
Yes. Remote Control is in research preview and works on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans — but it requires signing in with a claude.ai account, not an API key. On Team and Enterprise it's off by default until an admin flips the Remote Control toggle in the Claude Code admin settings. If you see 'Remote Control requires a claude.ai subscription', run claude auth login and pick the claude.ai option.
Running many sessions at once: server mode
claude remote-control
Instead of exposing one interactive session, this runs Claude Code as a waiting server: it prints a session URL, shows a QR code when you press spacebar, and can serve multiple phone-started sessions at once. Add --name "My Project" for a custom title.
Can my phone notify me when a task finishes?
/config
Inside Claude Code, open /config and enable 'Push when Claude decides' (requires v2.1.110+ and the Claude app signed in with the same account). Claude pings your phone when a long task finishes or it needs a decision — you can even ask in a prompt: 'notify me when the tests finish'.
If your laptop briefly sleeps or Wi-Fi drops, the session reconnects automatically when the machine comes back online. But if the claude process stops — terminal closed, machine shut down — the remote session ends. And if the machine stays awake but offline for about 10 minutes, the session times out and you'll need to start Remote Control again.
What works from the phone — and what doesn't?
Almost everything conversational works: sending tasks, answering permission prompts, steering direction, plus text commands like /compact, /clear, /context, and /usage. Commands that open an interactive picker in the terminal — /resume, /plugin — stay local-only. One more quirk: each interactive Claude Code process supports a single remote session; if you want several phone-controllable sessions at once, use server mode (claude remote-control) instead.
Practical kicker: tomorrow, before you leave your desk for lunch, give Claude a meaty task, type /rc, and lock your screen — but not your laptop lid. Somewhere between the soup and the coffee, open the Code tab, answer one question, and come back to finished work. That's the whole trick, and it never gets old.
Author
Evgeny Arsentyev
PhD · Chief Product Officer at a healthtech company
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