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The story so far

How OpenControl went from a February idea to a local app your AI can drive.

What is OpenControl?

OpenControl is a local app that lets you control real iPhones and build your own automations, so an AI like Claude or Codex can understand and use your phone for you. It runs on your own machine, works on iPhones, and creates full automations to replay.

kyle (reddit AI agents)
@sellingshovels

interested in ios or android phone farms? introducing OpenclawControl! my first public repo

-I seen this post about ios remote control but unfortunately not teaching anything how to set it up

-the post goes over needing a tweak, certain ios, but with my version it works

12:32 AM · Feb 11, 2026 · 35.4K Views

Created in February 2026 and shared on X, where it picked up 35k+ views as the OpenClaw for iPhones. Platform support landed over the months that followed: Instagram in April, TikTok in May, and Reddit posting and replying in June. LLM control and step chains arrived back in March. In July, pricing moved from $600 monthly to a one-time lifetime purchase, and in August it became a local app.

Local app Instagram TikTok Reddit LLM control Lifetime pricing
August 2026 · Update

Now a local app

  • Local app: OpenControl is now an app you run on your own machine
July 2026

Pricing changed: monthly to lifetime

Dropped the $600 monthly subscription. OpenControl is now a one-time lifetime purchase: pay once, own it.

The announcement on X
June 2026

Reddit support

Added Reddit support: posting and replying, straight from your automations.

May 2026

TikTok support

Added support for TikTok.

April 2026

Instagram support

Added support for Instagram.

March 2026

First videos, LLM control, and step chains

Posted the first YouTube video sharing OpenControl, with a follow-up walkthrough the same month.

  • LLM support: an AI model can now manage the phone for you
  • Step chains: run multi-action automations, not one step at a time
First video watch Follow-up video watch
February 2026

OpenControl is born35k+ views

Created OpenControl and shared it on X, where it picked up a lot of attention as the OpenClaw for iPhones.

The launch post on X