Opposable tests Android phone AI agent operations in practice
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Between October 8 and November 3, Opposable had Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex perform 3,324 operations via its Android app across 45 phones, of which 91% succeeded; basic actions such as taps and swipes had a 99% success rate. The company says that to cope with Android's background restrictions, the app was changed to a foreground service with a persistent notification, requests a one-time battery optimization exemption, and sets a 15-minute alarm so the service can reconnect after being frozen; on Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, vivo, Huawei and Tecno phones, the app also prompts users to manually enable vendor-specific settings such as Autostart or "never sleep apps." Users must enable accessibility permissions in settings; on Android 13 and above, the toggle for apps installed from a browser is greyed out by default, and restricted settings must first be allowed on the app info page. Opposable also notes the limited sample: 45 phones over four weeks, and 3,048 of the 3,324 operations came from Claude, so the results mainly reflect Claude's performance.
AI overview based on source reports · Updated 11 hr ago
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- Hacker News AIShow HN: Is Android ready for AI agents? What broke in 3324 actions on 45 phones
Between 8 October and 3 November, AI assistants made 3,324 actions on 45 Android phones through Opposable, an app that lets Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex use the phone; 91% of actions worked, and of the 305 failures, 140 came from the phone or OS, including 108 where the phone had dropped off the relay. The author reports that 27 of the 45 phones dropped off at least once, with 7 of 9 Xiaomi and 14 of 20 Samsung phones affected against 2 of 5 Pixels and 1 of 4 Motorolas, and argues Android lacks a supported way to stay reachable on demand and any way to distinguish agent input from the owner's. The post also notes screenshots worked 95% of the time, taps and swipes 99%, typing 85%, and that 3,048 of the 3,324 actions came through Claude.
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