Perch on your phone
Add Perch to your phone's Home Screen, no app store needed. Chat on any plan. With Pro, in beta, start cloud agents, reach your computer from anywhere, and get a notification when a run needs you.
Perch has no app in the App Store or Google Play. It runs in your phone's browser, and when you add it to your Home Screen it behaves like an app: its own icon, full screen with no address bar. With Pro, it can also notify you when a run finishes or is waiting for your approval.
It is the same Perch and the same account as on the web and Desktop. Perch Terminal threads show up on the web and in Perch Desktop. Perch AI chats show up in Perch AI in any browser.
Put Perch on your phone
Point your phone’s camera at the code. Perch opens with the steps to add it to your Home Screen. Or go to chat.perchai.app on your phone.
Opens Perch with the steps to add it to your Home Screen, so it gets its own icon. With Pro, it can also notify you when a run needs you.
Add Perch to this phoneWhat you can do from your phone
- Chat with Perch AI. Every plan.
- Start and follow cloud agents. A run keeps going in the cloud after you lock your phone. See cloud agents. In beta for Pro.
- Send messages to your computer. With remote control on, a message from your phone runs on your computer at home, with its files and folders. In beta for Pro.
- Answer approvals. When a step needs your OK, tap the notification and answer in the thread. In beta for Pro.
Add Perch to your Home Screen
iPhone and iPad
Open Perch in Safari
Go to chat.perchai.app. Other browsers work too, through their own share menu.
Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen
In recent versions of Safari, Share is inside the ••• menu. You may need to scroll the share menu to find Add to Home Screen. Leave Open as Web App on if you see it, then tap Add.
Open Perch from the new icon and sign in
On iPhone and iPad, the Home Screen app keeps its own sign-in, separate from Safari, so you sign in once more with Google or GitHub.
Android
Install it
Tap Install Perch when Perch offers it, then Install. If you skipped that, open Chrome's ⋮ menu and tap Install and create shortcut (Add to Home screen on older versions), then Install. Edge, Samsung Internet, and Firefox have a similar option in their menus.
Open Perch from your Home Screen or app drawer
You stay signed in from the browser.
After you send a message in your phone's browser, Perch offers to walk you through these steps for your phone.
Turn on notifications
Perch can tell you when a cloud agent or remote-control run:
- is waiting for your approval,
- has finished,
- has stopped before finishing, or
- has stopped with a problem.
A notification shows the thread's title, which comes from your first message, and one status line. It never shows Perch's replies. You can hide titles in Perch Terminal under Settings › Notifications. Tap a notification to open its thread.
Notifications are part of Perch Terminal, so they come with cloud agents and remote control, both in beta for Pro. Perch AI chats answer while you watch, so they do not send notifications.
After you send a message in Perch Terminal from the Home Screen app, Perch offers to turn notifications on. Tap Turn on, then Allow if your phone asks. You can also turn them on in Perch Terminal under Settings › Notifications, which shows whether this phone can be notified and can send it a test notification.
On iPhone, use the Home Screen app
Where notifications go
Perch sends a notification to each phone where you turned notifications on. If Perch Desktop is open on your computer, it shows the notification there too.
That covers the usual cases: start a cloud run at your desk and walk away, and your phone hears when it is done. Send a message to your computer with remote control while you are out, and the notification comes to your phone.
Using it day to day
Perch opens to Perch AI. Switch to Perch Terminal at the top of the screen.
In Perch Terminal, the first pill in the composer shows where your next message will run: Cloud, or your computer when remote control is on. Its menu also has Auto.
Locking your phone or switching apps does not stop a run. Cloud runs carry on in the cloud, and remote-control runs carry on on your computer. Open Perch again and the thread catches up to where the run is now.
Messages from your phone count toward your plan the same as messages from anywhere else.
Remove it
Touch and hold the Perch icon on your Home Screen and remove it, as you would any app. Your threads, files, and account are not affected.
To keep the app but stop its notifications, turn them off in Perch Terminal under Settings › Notifications, or in your phone's settings.
Troubleshooting
I don't see Add to Home Screen on iPhone. Scroll down the share menu. If it is still missing, check that you are not in a Private tab.
Android doesn't offer Install. Check that you are not in an Incognito tab. If Perch is already installed, Chrome offers Open in app instead.
I don't get notifications on iPhone. Open Perch from the Home Screen icon, not from Safari. Then check Settings › Notifications › Perch on your iPhone, and any Focus that might be silencing it. Settings › Notifications in Perch Terminal can send a test.
I don't get notifications on Android. Check that notifications are allowed for Perch in Android's settings, and that battery saver is not holding them back. Settings › Notifications in Perch Terminal can send a test.
The app asks me to sign in again. On iPhone and iPad, the Home Screen app has its own sign-in, separate from Safari. Sign in once inside the app.
Remote control
Send messages from the web or your phone and have them run on your own computer, with its folders and tools. Nothing is moved to the cloud. In beta for Pro.
Slash commands
How to actually use each slash command in Perch Terminal and the CLI, what you get back, and when to reach for one instead of just asking.