Open-source Android app Buddy lets Codex control your phone
Developer /u/3amae404 posted on r/OpenAI about Buddy, an Apache 2.0 open-source Android app that runs as a floating chat bubble: the user gives an instruction and Codex reads the screen and taps and types inside apps. According to the developer, Codex CLI runs in a small Linux environment inside the app without root or Termux, and the phone is exposed as MCP tools through Android's accessibility service; it signs in with the user's ChatGPT plan, and Claude Code and OpenCode also work. Anything that sends, posts or buys first shows an approval card, with the OK covering only that exact message, and unapproved notification replies wait in a list instead of going out.
The project shows how Android's accessibility service can turn a phone into MCP tools for Codex CLI, with per-action approval cards for sends, posts and purchases.
| Buddy is a floating chat bubble on Android. You tell it what you want, and Codex does it on the phone: it reads the screen and taps and types in your apps. In the video: Codex turns on my living room lights (you can see the approval card), and OpenCode on a free model adds a Switch 2 to my Amazon cart. Things it handles: replying to messages, filling in forms, digging through settings, and notification rules that draft an answer when a chat comes in. How it works: Codex CLI runs in a small Linux inside the app (no root, no Termux) and gets the phone as MCP tools through Android's accessibility service. It signs in with your ChatGPT plan. Claude Code and OpenCode work too if you want to compare. The part I spent the most time on: anything that sends, posts or buys shows an approval card first, and the OK only covers that exact message. A notification reply you don't approve waits in a list instead of going out. Free and open source (Apache 2.0): https://github.com/ghorbelhamdi/buddy-android Happy to answer questions. submitted by /u/3amae404 [link] [comments] |