Voice Control: Talk to Claude Code on Your Computer From Your Phone

Some of the best moments to give Claude Code a task are the ones where typing is a pain: walking to the shops, cooking, holding a coffee in one hand. The Voice tab in the Coder IDE Android app is built for those. You hold the mic, say what you want, let go, and your computer gets on with it. When Claude answers, the app reads the reply out loud.

This post covers how it works, the phrases it understands on its own, and the things it deliberately doesn't do.

Hold the mic, talk, let go

Open the Voice tab in the Android app. The big round button at the bottom is the microphone. Press and hold it while you talk, and release when you're done. While you hold it, the words appear above the button as they're recognised.

Voice is push-to-talk only. Nothing listens unless you're holding the button, there's no wake word, and the app never records in the background.

If the transcription got a word wrong, tap the text above the button. You can edit it and press Send, which is often quicker than saying it again.

Talking to Claude on your computer

Anything that isn't one of the built-in phrases below goes to Claude Code on your computer, exactly as you said it. "Why is the login test failing?" or "Add a loading state to the settings page" both start real work.

The first thing you say starts a new Claude session in the folder you used most recently on that computer. The card at the top tells you which folder and which computer before you speak. After that, everything you say is a reply in the same conversation, so you can follow up naturally: "Now run the tests", "What did you change in the API?".

The session shows up in the Voice tab as it runs, with the same view you get in Sessions, so you can glance at the steps Claude is taking. When Claude finishes a reply, the app reads it aloud. Code blocks are skipped and replaced with the word "code", and long answers are trimmed so you're not listening to a whole file.

Tap New conversation to start fresh. If you have more than one computer, a row of names at the top lets you pick which one you're talking to.

You can talk to Claude in your own language. The app recognises speech in your phone's language, and Claude answers in whatever language you used.

Built-in phrases the app handles itself

A few short phrases are handled by the app directly instead of being sent to Claude. They're quick, and they work even when no Claude session is open:

• "Open ports", "go to sessions", "show me devices", "open account": jump to that tab.
• "Start the server" or "stop the server": start or stop the editor on the computer you've picked. Add a name to target a different one: "stop the server on laptop".
• "Open the editor" or "open VS Code on laptop": open VS Code in the folder you used last on that computer.
• "Show my screen", "show monitor 2", "hide screen": show or hide your computer's live screen inside the Voice tab.

Computer names are matched loosely, so "the desk PC" finds a computer called "Desk PC". If the app can't tell which one you mean, it says so instead of guessing.

These phrases are in English. Anything that doesn't match one exactly, such as "open the readme and summarize it", goes to Claude as a normal request.

Answering Claude's questions by voice

Claude Code stops and asks before it runs most commands or edits files. When the session you're talking to needs approval, the Voice tab reads the request out: "Allow Bash: npm test?".

Say yes, approve or go ahead to allow it, and no or deny to refuse. These only count as answers while a request is waiting. At any other time, "yes" is just sent to Claude like anything else, and a longer sentence such as "yes and also fix the tests" is always treated as a message.

Some requests are too long to judge by ear, such as a multi-line command or a large edit. For those, the app tells you to review it on screen or say no. You can't approve them by voice, on purpose. Saying no is always allowed.

If you want to know more about which requests deserve a closer look, see approving Claude Code permissions from your phone.

Watching your screen while you talk

The Screen switch at the top shows your computer's screen live in the Voice tab, under the conversation. Turn your phone sideways and the screen takes the full width, while Claude's replies are still read aloud. You can also say "show my screen" or "show monitor 2" to pick a monitor. Live screen viewing works with Windows computers.

That pairs well with a voice request like "open the app in the browser and check the header". You see what's happening as it happens.

What Voice doesn't do

It's worth being clear about the edges:

• It's in the Android app only. The web app and the installable web app on iPhone and iPad don't have a Voice tab.
• It doesn't listen in the background. Push-to-talk is the only mode.
• The built-in phrases are a short, fixed list. It isn't a general assistant for your phone. Anything else goes to Claude on your computer.
• It needs a folder on the computer. Claude starts in a folder you've opened before. If a computer has none yet, the app tells you to add one from Devices first.
• It can't approve long requests by ear. Those need a look on screen.
• Your computer's app needs to be current. If it's too old to take messages from your phone, the app tells you to update it instead of waiting.

Speech recognition and offline voice

Speech is turned into text on your phone when Android's offline voice for your language is installed. If it isn't, the Voice tab shows a Download offline voice button, and until it's downloaded, speech goes through Google's online recognition. Either way, the text is what gets sent on to your computer, and the replies are read out by your phone's own text-to-speech.

Wrap-up

The Voice tab turns your phone into a push-to-talk line to Claude Code on your own computer. Start a task, ask a follow-up, answer a simple approval, open the editor or check your screen, all without typing. The short commands are handled on the spot, and everything else goes to Claude in your own words.

For the rest of the Android app, take the Android app tour.

Start free, install the Android app from the Coder IDE website, and hold the mic.