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Use tmux on iPhone and iPad

tmux keeps running on your Mac or Linux host. Muxly connects to that host over SSH and shows its tmux sessions, windows, and panes as native tabs and controls on iPhone and iPad. Lock the phone or close the app, and whatever you left running, from a build to Claude Code, carries on.

Updated · Tested with tmux 3.4 on Linux

Before you start

  • Muxly on iOS or iPadOS 18 or later. Connecting needs a subscription or the lifetime unlock.
  • A Mac or Linux host you can reach over SSH, with your username and a password or SSH key.
  • tmux 3.2 or later on the host. Check with tmux -V; install tmux if needed.

If the host is only reachable on a private network, connect to that network or VPN first, for example Tailscale.

On this page

1. Connect to your host

  1. In Hosts, tap +. Enter a label, hostname, port (usually 22), and username.
  2. Choose Password and enter it, or SSH Key and pick a key. See SSH key setup if you need one.
  3. Turn on tmux Integration. Under Session Behavior, choose Choose Existing Session so you can pick a session each time you connect.
  4. Tap Save, then tap the host. The first time, accept the host’s key fingerprint when Muxly shows it.
Host settings with tmux Integration enabled and Choose Existing Session selected
tmux Integration is per host. With Choose Existing Session, Muxly lists the host’s sessions every time you connect.

2. Open a tmux session

Tap a session to attach. It’s the same session you’d get from tmux attach on your laptop, and both can stay attached at once.

Muxly’s tmux session chooser with the mobile-work session
The sessions on your host, with their window counts.

No sessions yet? Tap Create Named Session…, enter a name such as mobile-work, and tap Create.

Create another session while connected: open ⋯ More → Switch Session and tap +. Choose New Session, or choose New Named Session…, enter a name, and tap Create. See the session reference for details.

3. Switch windows and panes

A Muxly tab is a tmux window. A window can hold several panes.

To…Do this
Switch windowsTap a tab.
Create a windowTap + in the terminal tab strip.
Switch panes on iPhoneTap the active tab to open the pane picker, then tap a pane.
Focus a pane on iPadAt full width, tap the pane.
Muxly’s iPhone tabs with the pane picker open, showing Claude task filters and Codex task tests
The pane picker on iPhone. The tab shows the active pane, 2/2 here.
Codex and Claude Code running side by side in two tmux panes on a landscape iPad
On iPad in landscape, both panes are visible side by side.

Closing a tab closes that tmux window and every pane in it. To step away, tap Back or leave the app. Nothing closes.

See the reference for renaming and reordering tabs, splitting panes, and prefix shortcuts.

4. Leave and return

Lock your device or switch apps. Everything keeps running as long as the host is awake and tmux is running. To come back, open Muxly, tap the host, reconnect if asked, and pick the same session.

Try it: leave while a command runs

  1. Tap + for a spare window and run:
    Run on the host, inside your tmux shell 
    sleep 10; echo 'Task finished'
  2. Before ten seconds pass, open the app switcher and swipe Muxly away.
  3. Wait ten seconds, reopen Muxly, connect to the same host, and open the same session and window. You’ll see Task finished.
Task finished in the same tmux window after reconnecting
The finished command, in the same window, after reconnecting.

Common questions

Does tmux run on the iPhone?

No. tmux runs on your host, and Muxly is the client. Nothing else is installed on the phone.

How is this different from a plain SSH app?

In a plain SSH app you drive tmux with prefix keys and read its text status bar. Muxly attaches in tmux control mode, so windows become tabs, panes become a picker or a layout, and everything stays in sync with the tmux client on your laptop. Common prefix shortcuts still work.

Can I run Claude Code or Codex this way?

Yes. They’re ordinary programs in tmux windows on the host, so you see them like any other window: side by side on iPad, one at a time on iPhone. To be told when one needs approval or has finished, set up notifications for Claude Code and Codex.

Can my laptop and phone use the same session at once?

Yes. tmux sizes a shared window to whichever client used it most recently, so your laptop’s view may reflow to the phone’s size while you work on the phone, and back when you return to the laptop.

What happens if my host sleeps?

Tasks pause until it wakes. Keep the host awake while work should continue.

What happens if my host shuts down or restarts?

Running programs end. tmux doesn’t restore them after a restart.

Do I need to change my tmux configuration?

No. Muxly reads your prefix key and works with your existing configuration. It never edits tmux.conf; while attached it sets a few window options, such as window-size latest.

Troubleshooting

I can’t connect

Check the host address, port, network or VPN, and SSH credentials.

My session is missing

Check that you’re using the same host and SSH username, and that the session is still running.

Tabs open separate shells

Turn on tmux Integration in the host settings, then reconnect.

My iPad shows only one pane

Muxly picks the pane layout from the window width when it connects. Make Muxly full width, disconnect, and connect again.