Grok-iOS – remote Grok Build from your iPhone over ACP

Your iPhone can boss Grok around now, and the crowd is split between genius and "why though?"

TLDR: Grok-iOS turns an iPhone into a remote control for Grok Build on a Mac, letting people start jobs from their phone while the computer does the real work. Commenters are torn between calling it a clever little power tool and roasting it as a hilariously complicated way to control your own laptop.

A new open-source project called Grok-iOS lets people use their iPhone like a remote control for Grok Build, while the real heavy lifting still happens on a Mac. In plain English: your phone becomes the cute little command screen, your computer does the work, and fans can kick off jobs from the couch like they're starring in a hacker movie. The app isn't in the App Store, so this is very much a DIY, sideload-it-yourself affair — and yes, that instantly sent the comment section into full chaos mode.

The strongest reaction? A loud split between "this is actually slick" and "we've reinvented remote desktop with extra steps." Supporters loved the idea of turning a phone into a pager-style sidekick, calling it the kind of nerdy convenience that makes tinkering fun. Critics, meanwhile, dragged the setup process for being a lot of work just to tell your own Mac what to do from six feet away. A few people were especially amused that the phone is basically a glorified button panel, with one commenter joking that the real innovation was finally giving developers a reason to stare at two expensive Apple devices at once.

The jokes came fast: comparisons to old-school pagers, "Tim Cook's dream walkie-talkie," and memes about using a supercomputer vibe for a task that still depends on your laptop being awake on the same Wi‑Fi. Still, even the skeptics seemed weirdly charmed. The overall mood was classic tech-community drama: half roast, half applause, all entertained.

Key Points

  • Grok-iOS is an open-source iOS client for Grok Build that uses an iPhone as a remote pager UI while the agent runtime stays on a Mac.
  • The project requires macOS, the Grok CLI, an xAI API key, Xcode 16+, and iOS 17+.
  • The default architecture connects a SwiftUI iOS app to `grok agent serve` on a Mac using ACP and JSON-RPC over WebSocket.
  • Setup involves starting `grok agent serve` on the Mac, copying the generated secret, and entering it in the iOS app to connect.
  • The repository includes an optional legacy LAN bridge, development and smoke-test scripts, and a stub ACP demo mode for CI or use without an API key.

Hottest takes

"We reinvented the pager and called it progress" — @commenter42
"This is absurdly overengineered, which is why I kind of love it" — @buildgremlin
"So my phone tells my Mac to do the thing I was already doing on my Mac" — @sarcasticdev
Made with <3 by @siedrix and @shesho from CDMX. Powered by Forge&Hive.