Comparison

Cortex Relay vs Cyphir

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cortex Relay

Access powerful AI agents like Claude Code from your iPhone via a chat interface or a full SSH terminal. Features include on-device voice input, persistent sessions, and secure credential management. Customize your terminal experience with various themes and font sizes.

Highlights
  • AI agent chat interface
  • Full SSH terminal access
  • On-device voice input
  • Persistent tmux sessions
  • Secure SSH key management
  • Customizable terminal themes
Read full description

Run Claude Code (or Codex and any other AI agent) from your iPhone. Cortex Relay gives you two ways to work with Claude Code on a remote machine — a friendly chat UI and a full-blown SSH terminal. Pick the right tool for the moment. THE CHAT Speak or type a prompt. Claude Code runs on your server, and the response streams back as a clean conversation with tool activity, cost breakdowns, and one-tap shortcuts for common tasks like committing, reviewing branches, or checking status. Upload photos from your camera roll and Claude can see them too. THE TERMINAL A real SSH terminal session. Cortex Relay renders the full CLI experience — interactive permission prompts, slash commands, MCP integrations, vim, git, whatever you need. Seven color themes from Nord to Dracula, pinch to resize, and a shortcut bar for /compact, /clear, /model, /status, and /cost. VOICE INPUT On-device speech recognition powered by OpenAI's Whisper. Pick a model size (tiny, base, small) and language (English or multilingual). Runs entirely on your phone — no server round-trip, works offline. Apple's built-in speech engine is available by default too. SESSIONS THAT SURVIVE Every terminal session runs inside tmux. Background the app, lose WiFi, switch to a call — your session keeps running on the server. Come back and everything is exactly where you left off. No reconnect dance. NOTIFICATIONS Get a push when Claude finishes a long task or needs your approval. The chat sends these automatically. For terminal sessions, drop a one-line webhook into your project's CLAUDE.md and Claude does the rest. SECURE BY DEFAULT Generate ed25519 SSH keys directly in the app or import your existing ones. Keys live in the iOS Keychain, optionally locked behind Face ID or Touch ID. Password auth is supported too, with the same biometric protection. Your credentials never leave the device. ORGANIZED Create named servers with saved directories. Spin up Chat or Terminal connections to any project on any machine. Each connection remembers its own dictation preferences. One server, many projects, zero re-entering credentials. YOUR TERMINAL, YOUR WAY Navy, Homebrew, Nord, Dracula, Solarized Dark, One Dark, Pure Black — pick a theme, see it applied instantly. Pinch to zoom the font size. It sticks between sessions. WHAT STAYS ON YOUR PHONE - SSH keys and passwords in iOS Keychain with biometric lock - Whisper speech recognition runs on-device only - No credentials sent to our servers - Push relay handles notification delivery — nothing else

About

Cyphir

Control AI agents running on your computer directly from your iPhone. Send commands, monitor their actions in real-time, and interrupt sessions from anywhere. Ensures privacy with end-to-end encryption.

Highlights
  • Remote AI agent command
  • Real-time tool use monitoring
  • Session interruption
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Multi-machine support
  • Live command streaming
Features
Read full description

Cyphir turns your iPhone into a control surface for AI coding agents running on your Mac or PC. Start sessions, send instructions, monitor activity, and stay close to your AI-assisted development work even when you are away from your desk. CONTROL YOUR AI WORKFLOW Cyphir lets you connect your phone to supported coding-agent sessions on your computer through the Cyphir bridge. From your iPhone, you can send commands, follow session activity, and keep visibility into what is happening on your machine. BUILT FOR AI CODING AGENTS Cyphir is designed for developers, builders, and power users who run tools like Claude Code, Codex, and other local AI-assisted coding workflows. Your computer runs the agent. Your phone becomes the command and review layer. REMOTE SESSION VISIBILITY Follow active sessions from your phone, review recent activity, and keep track of agent work while you move between your desk, laptop, and mobile device. PAIR YOUR COMPUTER SECURELY Install the Cyphir bridge on your Mac or PC, pair it with your iPhone, and connect through Cyphir’s relay infrastructure. Pairing is tied to your account and device flow so you can manage access from the app. APPROVAL-FOCUSED CONTROL Cyphir is built around visibility and control. Supported approval and review flows help you understand what your agent is doing and reduce the chance of unattended work moving forward without your awareness. PRIVACY-CONSCIOUS BY DESIGN Cyphir is designed to avoid unnecessary exposure of sensitive workflow data. Authentication, pairing, local device storage, session cleanup, and relay behavior are built with security and privacy in mind. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the Cyphir bridge on the computer where your AI coding agent runs. 2. Pair your iPhone using the Cyphir app. 3. Start or monitor supported sessions from your phone. 4. Review activity and stay in control while your agent works. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Connect your iPhone to supported AI coding workflows on your computer • Start and monitor coding-agent sessions • Send natural-language instructions • Review supported session activity from your phone • Use account-based pairing and bridge connection flows • Manage your mobile session state securely • Keep your AI coding workflow close, even when you step away from your desk WHO CYPHIR IS FOR Cyphir is for developers, founders, technical operators, and AI power users who want mobile visibility and control over their AI coding workflows. REQUIREMENTS Cyphir requires the Cyphir bridge to be installed on the Mac or PC you want to connect. Supported AI coding tools must be installed and configured separately on that computer. A Cyphir subscription may be required after the free trial.

Screenshots

Cortex Relay4 screens
Cyphir4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Cyphir at 5.0 against Cortex Relay's 4.0. Cyphir also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Cortex Relay's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cyphir holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cortex Relay ships an update every 2 months, Cyphir every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Cortex Relay versus Cyphir: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCortex RelayCyphir
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaksim MikheevVeridian Software LLC

Customer experience

Cortex Relay

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Cyphir

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Cortex Relay

No in-app purchases

None

Cyphir

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cortex Relay free?
Cortex Relay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cyphir free?
Cyphir is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cortex Relay or Cyphir?
Cyphir is rated higher. Cortex Relay averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Cyphir averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Cortex Relay or Cyphir have ads?
Neither Cortex Relay nor Cyphir shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cortex Relay or Cyphir?
Cortex Relay ships an update every 2 months, and Cyphir every 3 days. Most recently, Cortex Relay was updated on September 18, 2026 and Cyphir on September 21, 2026.

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