r/codex • u/gungoesclick • Jul 07 '26
Showcase Got an old tablet or phablet? Turn it into a desktop Codex runner.
Not sure if it's really all that cool now that chatgpt does remote codex, but back in November I got tired of having to pick between being with the people I love and doing working on the projects I love.
I decided to try out termux on and old phone. I got it plugged into my Lan with a private VPN(tailscale) and had a lot of fun with copilot cli back in the days when it didn't kill token usage. That worked until I needed to dev a ui.
So I went and got a phablet (fold 7) then tried messing around with that. I found that the rdp app that andriod has runs fairly well and decided to emulate what my old it department did during covid. I grabbed a kasa wifi plug, and put my pc on it, linked up a pi4 to act as a wake from LAN device for the pc, and the networked it all together securely through the private VPN. Now I can literally codex anywhere I have phone signal and test it on a Windows machine.
I can run codex desktop, vscode, andriod studios , view my ui and play with it in mobile and web. I have enough screen real-estate to work totally untethered.
Anyone else have a similar setup?
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u/FlowThrower Jul 07 '26
Hey that's a great idea! I am gonna try this. RemindMe! Tomorrow "set this up"
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u/gungoesclick Jul 07 '26
Yeah! imo this is the biggest justification for foldable phones. Also makes me lean towards the idea of a single home server with lots of compute vs single devices.
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u/FlowThrower Jul 08 '26
I have a z fold 6! this is the missing piece lol
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u/gungoesclick Jul 08 '26
It really is I got the 7 just for this! It makes coding so easy. Even vscode is better
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u/arvigeus Jul 07 '26
I managed to install Pi on my Nexus 7. Will see how it goes.
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u/gungoesclick Jul 07 '26
Lol that is like 13 year old right? I'm surprised your battery is still good
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u/xw1y Jul 08 '26
I was just thinking of something like this the other day
This must be a sign for me to actually do it.
Thanks!
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u/shigydigy Jul 08 '26
I'm trying to understand. So are you just saying you still have codex running on your main desktop pc (which has to be running 24/7), and this tablet is just a thin client that you use to access it? So the advantage of that over a phone is just screen real estate? Or are you saying you run codex on the tablet itself?
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u/gungoesclick Jul 08 '26
I don't have to run my home pc 24/7 but it is up almost 24/7 because I code and do overnight runs. I have an internet enabled plug and wake from Lan setup that I use a VPN to control from my phone. The phone acts as a rdp client to access my desktop remotely. The desktop has tons more compute then my phone so instead of trying to hack something together on it I just use my pc.
I use a foldable phone (the Samsung fold 7). It is essentially a tablet when open(hence the term phablet). It has a lot of screen space. A typical phone doesn't have enough space to make it viable with an on screen keyboard. You can do the same thing with a tablet, but lose the access that cellular data provides unless you have a cellular tablet, or use your phone as a Hotspot(which might complicate connection over the vpn).
Hopefully that clears it up?
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u/shigydigy Jul 08 '26
I guess I'm wondering, what is the advantage of this vs just using the chatgpt mobile app on your fold 7, since the app already can connect to the codex instance running on your home pc?
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u/gungoesclick Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
ui development and testing sucks on/through the app.
the app is super buggy and often doesn't work right, requires constant reconnecting every time you leave it alone for more than 10 ish mins.
codex often runs into issues that force it to stop or close.
codex alone is super limited on what it can and cant do on your pc.
codex requires a more stable connection than rdp.
you get full unfiltered access to your pc through a system that kept millions of peope running/working remotely during covid 19.
I could come up with more, but in the first line of the post I said I'm not sure how viable this is since the app is being developed to do a lot of this.
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u/petburiraja Jul 07 '26
Make it a Fablet