StupidMirror

StupidMirror

Your phone, on your Mac. Your agent, on your phone.

Bring real iPhone and Android screens into Codex. Mirror, control, and test devices with your AI agent.

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StupidMirror brings real mobile devices into a native macOS workspace. View an iPhone over USB or Wi-Fi, mirror an Android device through ADB, and interact with either through an explicit control session.

The same workspace is available to AI agents over MCP: observe the current screen, locate a target with local OCR or native accessibility, act on the device, and inspect the result. Watch the phone inside Codex with the bundled plugin, or use the native Mac mirror.

One device can be mirrored and controlled without signing in. Simultaneous devices are included in the iTool yearly membership (¥99/year, all iTool products) and need sign-in. The source is available under PolyForm Noncommercial; commercial use requires separate authorization. License details.

Built for Codex

StupidMirror includes a Codex plugin that lets your agent see and operate a real iPhone or Android device, with the live phone screen right inside your Codex chat. Use it to inspect mobile UI, walk through app flows, reproduce bugs, and verify changes on a connected device.

• Watch the phone inside Codex. The embedded panel streams the live screen over local WebRTC, with device selection, pause/resume, and screenshot copying.
• Ask Codex to act and verify. Read screen content, locate controls, tap, swipe, and enter text through MCP, then inspect the result on the device.
• Point out exactly what you mean. Freeze a frame, mark regions, and send the annotated screenshot with your instructions in hosts that support image messages. You can also enable manual control to tap and drag the preview.

To get started, install StupidMirror and complete device setup, then click Settings → MCP Automation → Connect Codex. Open a new Codex chat, select StupidMirror, and ask:

Use StupidMirror to show my phone screen inside Codex and read the current page without tapping anything.

The app installs its bundled plugin through the Codex desktop app's CLI; no repository clone, separate Python / Node.js installation, or token copying is needed. See Codex setup for the full steps and the plugin guide for controls and troubleshooting.

What makes it useful

• A native place for your devices. Menu bar access, a device dashboard, live thumbnails, and independent mirror windows built with SwiftUI and AppKit.
• Real devices and simulators. iPhone H.264 video over USB or Wi-Fi, Android H.264/audio through a pinned scrcpy server, and booted iOS Simulators and Android emulators on this Mac.
• Control when you ask for it. iOS prefers live system HID touch, with WebDriverAgent for compatibility and semantic automation; Android uses Appium. Tap, drag, hold, type, press device buttons, and switch apps. Opening a USB or Android mirror does not start a control session.
• An agent can see what it is doing. Live frames, Apple Vision OCR, optional accessibility trees, semantic targeting, waits, and assertions share the same device workspace.
• Automation stays visible. Agent taps, swipe paths, and selected targets appear on the Mac mirror. These overlays do not alter the phone screen or encoded video.
• Bring your own AI client. One-click setup for Codex and Claude Code, each installing its plugin and MCP tools; a connection guide covers other MCP clients. StupidMirror itself needs no model API key and runs no embedded model.

Start with one device

Download the macOS app from GitHub Releases, move it to Applications, and open it. StupidMirror runs as a menu bar utility and shows a Dock icon while its windows are open. From 0.3.7 it checks for signed updates itself (Check for Updates… in the menu bar or Settings); Open at login is in Settings > Startup & Updates.

Simulators and emulators appear automatically while they are booted and count toward the simultaneous device limit like real devices. They are not mirrored automatically, so a simulator you are running UI tests on is left alone until you open it.

iPad mirrors include 13 native frames covering 43 device profiles across iPad Pro, Air, mini, and models with a Home button. Frames match the hardware model or simulator type, including renamed devices, and rotate with the screen. The bundled iPad artwork does not require local Xcode resources.

Choose Shut Down Simulator on a simulator's device card or from the menu bar, then confirm to close that iOS Simulator or Android emulator. The action targets only the selected simulator and keeps its installed apps and saved data.

With a compatible Xcode runtime, iPhone Duo simulators expose Closed, Partially Open, and Open posture controls. These change the simulator’s actual hinge and active display; the native mirror and Codex panel follow the confirmed state. The 3D device shell uses resources from the selected local Xcode installation when available.

macOS 15+ is required. Device compatibility can depend on OS versions, trust state, and the available automation runtime. The project remains experimental.

iPhone over USB

1. Connect the iPhone, unlock it, and accept Trust This Computer.
2. Open Set Up This iPhone, enable Developer Mode, and let the guide sign and install the screen runner using an Apple Development identity on this Mac.
3. Select the discovered device and open its mirror. Video does not require Camera permission.

USB and Wi-Fi both use the WDA/XCTest runner to supply video-only H.264 over SRT, decoded by VideoToolbox on the Mac. USB video therefore needs the runner prepared once, just like wireless video.

Play Device Audio on Mac is off by default, leaving audio on the iPhone. Enabling it opens a separate USB audio input and requires both Camera and Microphone permission; turning it off releases that input. These permissions are for optional USB audio, not the video stream. Wireless sessions keep audio on the phone.

Known limitation: changing USB audio playback can re-enumerate the phone’s USB network interface and briefly interrupt mirroring while the tunnel reconnects. The audio switch is not seamless.

iPhone over Wi-Fi

Open Set Up This iPhone while the phone is connected over USB. The guide checks the device and Apple Development signing identity, builds and installs the screen runner, test-launches it, and enables Wi-Fi connections on the phone (the same switch as Xcode's "Connect via network") before you unplug.

Later sessions reach the phone through the bundled smtunnel sidecar: it opens Apple's CoreDevice tunnel over the local network with an in-process network stack and starts the runner through testmanagerd, so no Xcode launcher, administrator password, Local Network prompt, or tap on the phone is involved. Like USB video, wireless mirroring does not require Camera permission or a ReplayKit Broadcast Extension. Both use the signed device-side runner and require Developer Mode on the phone; video setup does not itself enable a control session.

The app finds the phone over the same path: once usbmuxd lists it on the network, it shows as connected and can be started from the app or through MCP. Plugging the cable in while a wireless mirror or control session is in use keeps that session on Wi-Fi.

Capture, encoding, transmission, and decoding keep bounded in-flight buffers to limit memory growth and accumulated delay. When video falls behind, it recovers from a new keyframe instead of replaying an ever-growing frame queue. HID touch uses a separate input channel from the video runner.

Android

Install adb, enable USB debugging, connect the device, and approve this Mac on the phone. Select the discovered device to start mirroring. Video and audio work independently of the optional Appium control connection.

Android previews use a rounded device shell with a slim metallic rim and side keys in the dashboard, mirror window, and AI client previews.

Device control

Click Connect Control to start control. Refresh Thumbnail and Remove Device are directly available beside it; removing a device asks for confirmation.

HID is selected automatically when available. The HID badge beside the ready control state identifies an active live-touch connection. Single-finger presses, movement, and releases are sent as they happen: hold the left mouse button to drag or long-press, and start native system gestures at the screen edge. A stationary touch re