Dev lets coding agents control an Android phone via MCP — 5 lessons from Buddy
3amae404 · reddit · 2026-10-16
A developer open-sourced Buddy (Apache 2.0), an Android app where coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode operate the phone: the agent CLI runs in an in-app Alpine Linux (proot, no root), with screen/tap tools exposed over MCP via an accessibility service. Key lessons: safety can't live in the prompt (one free model clicked "Buy now" — app-level approval cards caught it); accessibility-tree text beats screenshots on cost and reliability; "supports tool calling" on model cards means little (always test the real loop); over-cautious prompts break UX (tell the agent which apps are trusted); small models narrate instead of acting. Code: github.com/ghorbelhamdi/buddy-android
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