{
  "id": 17494078,
  "title": "\"Buddy: let Claude Code, Codex and other AI agents use your Android phone",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/buddy-let-claude-code-codex-and-other-ai-agents-use-your-android-phone",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-31T23:43:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/ghorbelhamdi/buddy-let-claude-code-codex-and-other-ai-agents-use-your-android-phone-1g4"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Buddy is a free, open-source Android application that allows artificial intelligence agents to interact with your device on your behalf. By using a chat interface, you can instruct the agent to perform various tasks, such as replying to messages, adding items to your Amazon cart, and summarizing your notifications. The agent can operate at specific times, like checking flight prices every morning at 8 AM and notifying you of any price drops.\n\nThere are several AI agents available within Buddy, including Claude, Code, Codex, OpenCode, Antigravity, and Grok. These agents run directly on your phone within a small Linux environment, eliminating the need for a PC, adb, or even rooting your device. You can choose to work with existing platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, or Google, or utilize an API key from services like DeepSeek, OpenRouter, or use OpenCode's free models without an account.\n\nWhile using the agents, Buddy provides transparency and control by showing you exactly what the agent intends to do before it executes any action. You can approve, modify, or deny the action, ensuring that you remain in charge throughout the process. The app also enforces this control, rather than relying on the AI's decisions.\n\nUsers can customize their experience by setting per-app rules, granting or restricting access to certain applications based on their preferences. The app allows you to take control at any moment by simply touching the screen, which will pause the agent's actions. Additionally, Buddy offers per-app rules, enabling you to trust specific apps while keeping others on a strict limit (such as money and messaging apps).\n\nYou can inspect each action taken by the agent, with the ability to view a step-by-step breakdown of the process through the \"View steps\" feature. This transparency helps you understand exactly what the agent is doing on your behalf.\n\nBuddy supports voice input and live voice conversations, allowing for more natural interactions with the AI agents. Users can also set scheduled tasks and reminders within the app, further streamlining their daily routines. The app also features a background browser for web tasks, which operates without taking over your screen and helps maintain privacy.\n\nAvailable in 17 languages, Buddy currently supports Android 11 and above on 64-bit devices. It is not available on Google Play, as the platform does not permit apps that utilize accessibility features to operate independently. The APK is built from the public code using GitHub Actions, ensuring a secure and up-to-date version. You can find Buddy on GitHub (https://github.com/ghorbelhamdi/buddy-android) and visit their website (https://ghorbelhamdi.github.io/buddy-android/) for more information.",
  "summary": "Buddy is a free, open-source Android app that lets AI agents use your phone for you. You type or say what you want in a chat bubble, and the agent reads the screen, taps and types through your apps until it's done. What you can ask \"Reply to Sarah that I'll be 10 minutes late.\" \"Add milk and eggs to my Amazon cart.\" \"What did I miss? Summarize my notifications.\" \"Every morning at 8, check the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}