OpenAI shows Codex work running on PCs on the iPhone lock screen as ChatGPT app adds Live Activities

Codex progress shown on the lock screen

OpenAI on Oct. 30 (Oct. 31 Japan time) made it possible to display the status of work by its AI coding tool "Codex" through "Live Activities" in the iOS app of its chat AI "ChatGPT." Live Activities is an iOS feature that keeps ongoing information displayed on places such as the iPhone lock screen. The change covers work in "Codex remote," which lets users control Codex on their own PC from a smartphone, and a Codex staff member disclosed it on X.

In Codex remote, work runs in the Codex app on a Mac or Windows PC, and files and credentials stay on the PC. The smartphone receives screenshots, execution results, code changes, test results and requests to approve actions, and users can approve, give further instructions and start new tasks. Until now, notifications alerted users when a task was finished or waiting for input. With this change, users can also check the status of work in progress on the lock screen without opening the app.

The text and images of the staff member's post could not be opened from the environment in which this article was written and have not been verified. This article does not go beyond the post's headline on which items are displayed or how Android is handled.

Preview in May, general availability on all plans in June

OpenAI released a preview of the ability to control Codex on a PC from the ChatGPT smartphone app on May 14. It covered all plans, including the "Free" and "Go" plans, and initially the PC had to be a Mac. General availability began on June 26 and was extended to Windows, AI Weekly reported.

To use it, the PC must be left on, connected to the internet and running Codex. The smartphone is a window for control and checking, while the work itself runs on the PC.

The lock screen display itself was already available when cloud-based Codex came to the ChatGPT iOS app in May 2025. This change extends it to work running on PCs.

Codex weekly users reached 7 million in July

Smartphone support has advanced as Codex's user base has surged. According to a Bloomberg report cited by AI Weekly, Codex had just over 1 million weekly users on Feb. 5 and 7 million on July 13. In between, CEO Sam Altman announced 3 million on April 8, and OpenAI announced more than 4 million on May 14, when it unveiled smartphone support, and more than 5 million on June 2.

From mid-July, figures combined with "ChatGPT Work," a feature for delegating tasks, began to be announced (8 million in July, later 10 million), and the latest figure for Codex alone could not be confirmed.

GitHub and Cursor added similar displays by the summer

AI coding tool makers are lining up features for monitoring work from a smartphone. GitHub on July 8 made it possible to show the work of "Copilot CLI," which runs on PCs and elsewhere, in iOS Live Activities. It shows statuses such as working, waiting for input and finished. Cursor's iPhone app, released on June 29, also supports Live Activities on the lock screen.

Anthropic in February launched "Remote Control," which lets users operate Claude Code from a smartphone while it keeps running on their own PC. No announcement of support for lock screen display could be found.