OpenAI launches Codex mobile app

OpenAI said on May 14 that it brought Codex to the ChatGPT mobile app on iOS and Android, giving users remote access to coding sessions running on Macs and connected remote environments. The company described the feature as a preview and said it is rolling out in supported regions now. OpenAI said the mobile app lets users review outputs, approve commands, redirect execution and start new work while Codex continues running on another machine. The announcement confirms reports published later by third-party outlets and clarifies that the feature lives inside the ChatGPT mobile app, not a separate standalone Codex mobile app. ### Is this a separate Codex app for phones? OpenAI’s May 14 product post said “Codex is now in the ChatGPT mobile app,” and linked users to download ChatGPT for mobile. The company’s App Store developer page lists ChatGPT and Sora, but not a standalone Codex app for iPhone or Android. MacRumors and 9to5Mac both reported that OpenAI added Codex controls to the existing ChatGPT mobile app. (openai.com) Those reports matched OpenAI’s own wording and contradicted descriptions of a separate iOS or Android Codex app. ### What can users actually do from a phone? OpenAI said the mobile experience loads the live state from the machine where Codex is operating, including project context, approvals, plugins and active threads. (openai.com) The company said updates flow back to the phone in real time, including screenshots, terminal output, diffs, test results and approval requests. The OpenAI developer documentation says users can connect the ChatGPT mobile app to a Mac host that is awake, online, running the Codex app and signed in to the same account and workspace. (macrumors.com) OpenAI said mobile setup and device control currently require a Mac host, though Codex can also connect onward to remote environments. ### Does the feature support QR pairing and long-running jobs? (openai.com) OpenAI’s developer documentation for remote connections includes a mobile setup flow that uses a QR code displayed by the desktop Codex app. That documentation also says the phone can stay connected to work running on a laptop, Mac mini or devbox, which aligns with OpenAI’s description of longer-running coding tasks. (developers.openai.com) The May 14 community post said users can “start new work, review outputs, steer execution, and approve next steps” from the ChatGPT mobile app while Codex keeps running on the host machine. OpenAI’s enterprise release notes used similar language, saying users can answer questions, redirect execution and switch between connected hosts. (developers.openai.com) ### Where did the 4 million weekly users figure come from? Neowin, citing OpenAI’s announcement, reported that Codex had reached more than 4 million weekly users. OpenAI’s own May 14 product page did not prominently display that figure in the excerpt indexed by search results, but multiple contemporaneous reports attributed the number to the company’s rollout materials. (community.openai.com) Because OpenAI’s indexed help and product pages available here focus on features and setup, the 4 million figure is best treated as reported by outlets citing OpenAI rather than as a number independently confirmed from a primary page in this search session. ### Who gets access, and what comes next? OpenAI’s release notes said Codex in the ChatGPT mobile app is rolling out on iOS and Android across all plans, including Free and Go, in supported regions. (neowin.net) The company said users need updated versions of both the ChatGPT mobile app and the Codex app on macOS to try it. OpenAI’s developer community post said support for connecting a phone to the Codex app on Windows is “coming soon.” As of May 18, 2026, OpenAI’s documentation still describes Mac as the current host requirement for mobile setup and device control. (community.openai.com) (help.openai.com)