iFarmAn AI that controls your iPhone
iFarm's AI auto mode lets an AI control a real iPhone: you give a phone a goal in plain words, and the AI looks at screenshots and taps, swipes and types through iFarm while you watch. You pick the brain: Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, OpenRouter, or a free local model with Ollama or LM Studio. iFarm's safety rules apply whichever you choose.
How an AI controls an iPhone in iFarm
The AI is the brain and iFarm is the hands. On a phone's page, describe a task in plain words, for example "open Safari, search for my app and open its website", and press send (or ⌘↩). The phone's AI box uses whichever brain you set up. Then:
- iFarm sends the AI a small screenshot of the phone (about 400×865).
- The AI decides on one action: tap, swipe, type, open an app, or finish.
- iFarm checks the action against its rules and does it on the phone.
- Repeat, about one step a second, until the task is done.
You watch it live on the tile, with each action in the run log. The AI can only ask for what iFarm allows, and the safety rules live in iFarm, not in the AI: Ask before posting, the run log, Stop and ⌘., the phone's emergency stop (hold volume up + volume down), and never buying anything.
For the full plain-words explanation, see How Claude works with iFarm.
Choose your AI brain
Open AI brain in iFarm's toolbar and pick one. The model must be able to see images and call tools (function calling); text-only models can't drive a phone.
| Brain | How you pay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude, with an Anthropic API key | Per use, to Anthropic | Key kept in the Mac's Keychain. Claude Opus 5.5 is the most capable; Claude Haiku 5.5 is by far the cheapest. Set a spending limit in the console. |
| Your own Claude Code | Your Claude plan | iFarm launches your own, unmodified Claude Code, signed in with your account, and gives it only iFarm's phone tools. iFarm never sees your sign-in. Anthropic's terms say apps should use API keys, so check this use fits your plan. |
| OpenAI | Per use, to OpenAI | Paste a key, press Load models, pick one that takes images. |
| Google Gemini | Per use, to Google | Key from Google AI Studio, same steps. |
| OpenRouter | Per use, to OpenRouter | Many hosted models behind one key, under Custom / OpenAI-compatible. |
| A local model (Ollama or LM Studio) | Free | Runs on your Mac. Screenshots never leave it. Experimental. |
Run a local model for free
With Ollama or LM Studio you can run an open model on the Mac itself: no subscription, no API key, no usage limits, and nothing leaves the Mac.
- Install Ollama (ollama.com) or LM Studio.
- Download a model tagged vision and tools in Ollama's library, for example
ollama pull qwen3-vl:8b. In LM Studio, start its server in the Developer tab. - In iFarm: AI brain → Custom / OpenAI-compatible, pick Ollama or LM Studio, press Check and choose the model.
Memory decides what fits next to your phones:
| Mac memory | Model size | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 16 GB | 7–8B | Short, clear tasks; keep to about 4 phones |
| 24–32 GB | 12–24B | The sweet spot for a small farm |
| 48–64 GB | 30B-class | The best local results for longer tasks |
| 96 GB and up | The largest open vision models | A dedicated AI and farm machine |
Be realistic: local models are much weaker than Claude at driving a phone. They're fine for opening an app, tapping something by its text or reading a value, but slower, and they often get lost on long or judgment-heavy tasks. More in running a local AI model to control an iPhone.
Save what the AI does, then replay it free
Turn on Save as automation in the phone's AI box before you send the task. When the AI finishes, iFarm saves every step it took as a normal automation ("Built by Claude: …"). From then on it replays without AI: fast, free, on any phone, on schedules and in flows. If the AI took a detour, delete those steps in the editor.
For anything you repeat, that's the cheapest pattern. You can also type a task in Ask iFarm at the top of All phones and review the AI's plan before it runs.
Control iFarm from Claude Code or any MCP app
iFarm is also a standard MCP server on your Mac. In AI brain, turn on Let Claude Code control iFarm and press Connect Claude Code. Then, in a Claude Code chat (for example in the Claude desktop app's Code tab), ask "list my iFarm phones" or "run my web search automation on all phones".
Claude Code can list phones and automations, see screens, tap, swipe and type, run automations, hand a phone a task, and schedule with list_schedules, schedule_automation and remove_schedule. With send_media it puts a video or photos into phones' Photos, and with post_media it also posts them to apps with your caption, still subject to Ask before posting.
Other AI apps that support MCP connect the same way: press Copy setup for other AI apps and paste it into that app's MCP settings. It contains the secret key, so keep it private.
- It only works on this Mac, while iFarm is open: iFarm listens on 127.0.0.1 with a secret key.
- Everything goes through iFarm, so Stop, History, the emergency stop and Ask before posting still apply.
- iFarm has no servers and no accounts, so no one can reach anyone else's phones.
Limits and honest caveats
- Runs have a step limit. 500 steps (about 10 minutes) by default, up to 2,000 (about 40 minutes) under Longest run. Longer runs use more of your plan or API credit.
- Hosted AIs see screenshots. They go to the provider you pick, under its terms. With a local model, none leave the Mac.
- Posting and sending ask first. By default you get Allow / Don't allow before any tap that sends or posts; no answer in 3 minutes means no. You can turn this off in Setup → Preferences.
- The AI never buys anything, never types passwords, and iFarm doesn't hide automation from apps. Follow each app's rules.
Frequently asked questions
Can an AI control my iPhone?
Yes. With iFarm, an AI looks at screenshots of a real iPhone and taps, swipes and types through iFarm's helper app, while you watch and can stop it any time.
Which AI models can drive a phone?
Any model that can see images and call tools: Claude, OpenAI and Gemini models that take images, models on OpenRouter, or local vision-and-tools models in Ollama or LM Studio.
Can I use Claude Code to control my iPhones?
Yes. Turn on Let Claude Code control iFarm and press Connect Claude Code. Claude Code then uses iFarm's MCP tools on your Mac to see phones, tap, run automations and schedule.
Is there a free option?
Yes. A local model with Ollama or LM Studio costs nothing to run. It's weaker than Claude on long tasks, so for jobs you repeat, save what the AI does as an automation and replay it without AI.