Phone apps

Install the Oktapod app on Android or iPhone and connect it to the agent on your computer.

The phone apps let you chat with your agent, approve its requests, and get notified when it needs you. They are a window onto the agent that runs on your computer, so install Oktapod there first; see Install.

#Get the app

The web app works on any phone too: open your agent's HTTPS address in the browser, then add it to the home screen. On iPhone, use Safari and choose Share → Add to Home Screen.

#Before you connect

The apps only connect over HTTPS, so the phone needs a private HTTPS address for your agent. The simplest way is Tailscale, a free private network for your own devices:

1. Install Tailscale on the computer that runs Oktapod and on your phone, and sign in to both with the same account.

2. Make Oktapod reachable on it. In the Mac app, choose Private Tailscale devices. Elsewhere, run:

   oktapod onboard --control-ui tailscale

Oktapod stays on your computer and opens no public port. See Private web access for other options. The apps refuse plain HTTP and invalid certificates, and nothing leaves the phone until you press Send.

#Connect

Open the app. There are three ways in:

1. Find it nearby

   The Android app looks for agents on the same network on its first screen. On iPhone, choose Find a nearby agent. Pick yours. If none is found, type the agent's HTTPS or Tailscale address instead.

2. Use a pairing code

   On a computer or browser that is already connected, open Settings → Devices → Connect a phone or browser and choose Oktapod app above the QR code. Scan the QR code with the phone's camera: the app opens with the address and code filled in, and you tap Connect. You can also type the eight-letter code into the app under Use a pairing code. Codes last 10 minutes and work once.

3. Use an access key

   If no other device is connected yet, choose Use an access key and paste the key that oktapod ui prints on the computer.

On your own Tailscale network, the app can recognise your private connection and may not ask for a code at all.

#After connecting

• Allow notifications when asked, so approvals and replies reach you. The lock-screen text is generic; message content never goes through the push service.
• Your agent keeps working when the app is closed.
• Every phone gets its own access, listed under Settings → Devices. Remove cuts off that phone alone.

See Ways to use Oktapod for what the apps can do, and Setup help if the app cannot connect.