How do I chat with my Brain from my phone?

On an iPhone, the easiest way is the Codus iPhone app, in public beta through TestFlight: install it from https://testflight.apple.com/join/mKXbwFPM (see Is there a Codus iPhone app?). On Android or any other phone, use the Codus web app in your browser, as below.

In Codus 0.2.198 or later, open the Codus web app on your phone, go to Brain and choose the Brain. The Chat tab shows the same conversation as the Brain's Chat view on your computer, and a message you send there reaches the Brain as if you had typed it in Codus. The Brain still runs on your computer, so Codus must be open on it for the Brain to answer.

Before you start

• Update the desktop to Codus 0.2.198 or later through Settings → Updates, then fully quit and reopen it.
• Sign in to the same Codus GitHub account in the desktop app and in the web app.
• Keep Codus open on an awake computer with an internet connection. Your Brains and their chat appear in the web app once the desktop has synced them.

Send a message

1. Open the Codus web app, then Brain.
2. Tap the Brain in the row of Brain tabs at the top, or open All Brains (the menu icon) to see every Brain with its last message. Chat opens first.
3. Type your message and tap Send. On a computer keyboard, Enter sends and Shift+Enter starts a new line.
4. If the Brain asked a question with suggested replies, tap one to send it as your answer.

The whole conversation is there, including messages typed on the desktop and the Brain's replies. Tap Load earlier messages at the top to read further back, or the up arrow to jump to the very top. A message you sent from the web app shows a phone icon in the desktop Chat view.

Send photos

In Codus 0.2.199 or later on your computer, the message box has a photo button.

1. Tap the photo button and choose up to four photos, or paste a screenshot into the message box. On a computer you can also drag images onto it.
2. Each photo shows as a small preview above the box. Tap its ✕ to take it out.
3. Write a message if you like, then tap Send. Photos can go on their own.

Your computer downloads the photos and hands them to the Brain the same way as images pasted into the desktop chat. Large phone photos are made smaller before they upload, so they arrive quickly. Tap any photo in the chat to see it full size.

The photo button appears only once your computer runs 0.2.199 or later. Before that, update Codus on the computer.

Send videos

In Codus 0.2.202 or later on your computer, the same button also takes videos, from iPhone or Android, up to 200 MB each.

1. Tap the photo button and choose a video. It shows with a small play mark above the message box.
2. Say what you want, for example "edit this selfie video, add b-roll and sound effects".
3. Tap Send. The percentage under the message shows how much has uploaded.

Your computer downloads the video and the Brain edits it with its video tools, then sends the finished video back to the chat. Longer videos take longer to upload and to edit. If the phone says to update Codus on your computer, the computer is on 0.2.201 or earlier.

Screenshots from the Brain

The Brain can reply with up to four images, for example a screenshot of a feature it built. Ask for one in plain words, such as "send me a screenshot of the new page". The images show in the chat on your phone and on the desktop. Tap one to see it full size.

Videos from the Brain

In Codus 0.2.201 or later on your computer, the Brain can also send short videos, for example a recording of how a site's menu and navigation work. Ask in plain words, such as "make a video of how the menu works on this site and send it to me". The video plays in the chat: tap play, or open it full screen from its controls. Each video can be up to 200 MB.

Photos, screenshots and videos are private to your account.

Scripts to film

In Codus 0.2.208 or later on your computer, a Brain that writes you a video script can send it as a film link. In the iPhone app the link shows as a card: tap Film this script to film it with the script rolling at the top of the screen. See How do I film a script the Brain sends to my phone? Other links in the chat open in the browser when you tap them.

What the status under your message means

• Sending…: the web app is still handing it to Codus cloud.
• Sent to your computer: it is waiting for your computer to collect it, which normally takes a few seconds.
• Waiting for your computer to come online: Codus is closed or the computer is asleep. The message waits and is delivered when Codus is open again.
• Waiting for the Brain to finish its current reply: the computer has it and types it in as soon as the Brain is free.
• Delivered to the Brain: the Brain has it. Its replies appear in the chat as it writes them.

If a message was not delivered

The reason appears under the message, for example when the Brain could not start or stayed busy for half an hour, or when the computer stopped responding. Tap Send again to send it as a new message. Codus never retries on its own, so a message is not typed into the Brain twice.

Not sent with Send again and Discard means the message never reached Codus cloud. Check your connection, then try again.

In Codus 0.2.203 and earlier on your computer, messages could stay on Sent to your computer after the computer had slept or lost its connection, even though it was back online, until Codus was restarted. Codus 0.2.204 or later fixes that. On an older version, fully quit and reopen Codus on the computer, then update it.

How do I know it worked?

The message shows Delivered to the Brain, and the Brain's reply appears below it on your phone and in the Brain's Chat view on your computer.

Earlier Brain history is read-only and has no chat.