What it does
Phone Harness connects an AI agent to a phone so the agent can use it like a person would. The agent looks at the screen, taps buttons, types text and reads what happens next. Nothing needs to be installed on the phone, and no jailbreak is needed.
For an iPhone, it works through the iPhone Mirroring window on a Mac. For Android, it uses adb (a standard tool for controlling Android phones from a computer) from a Mac, Linux or Windows computer. It reads text on the screen so the agent knows where to tap.
If you don't have a phone handy, you can rent an online phone from the makers' paid cloud service, which the README says includes some free minutes for Android. Its limits include no multi-touch, no camera or Face ID, and it can only read text, not icons.
Who it's for
People who already use AI coding agents like Claude Code or Codex and want them to carry out tasks in phone apps. It also suits app testers who want to automate phone actions.
Can I use it without coding?
With some setup. Setup is done by pasting a prompt into your coding agent, which then guides you through pairing your phone and granting permissions. New to this? Start here.
Can I run it?
- Cost
- Free, with optional paid extrasThe open-source version is free; the makers also sell a hosted or pro version.
- Runs on
- Mac, Windows, Linux, Cloud
- Computer
- An ordinary computer is fine
Try it
- Paste the setup prompt from the README into Claude Code or Codex.
- Let the agent walk you through pairing iPhone Mirroring on your Mac, or turning on developer options on your Android phone.
- Run the built-in doctor check to confirm the phone is connected.
Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?
Before you install
- Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
- Plain-AyI is an independent guide and doesn't host or review the software it lists. Please check each project's official page before installing.
- License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
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