Claude Cowork can now be launched from your phone and browser

Anthropic announced on July 7, 2026, that Claude Cowork is expanding to the web at claude.ai and to the Claude apps on iOS and Android. It is the first time the tool can be used outside the desktop app, where it launched in January 2026.

Cowork is an AI agent, meaning a program that carries out tasks on its own on the user's behalf. The tasks can include things like business operations or content production.

Start it in one place, pick it up in another

On the web, users start a Cowork session from the home screen on claude.ai. On mobile, they open Cowork from the side menu in the Claude app.

Users can start a task on one device, follow its progress from another and retrieve the result later. The work continues in the background, even when the laptop is closed, and scheduled tasks can run automatically, for example overnight.

According to Anthropic, Claude asks for a human decision when necessary, and nothing is sent off without the user's review and approval. Chat and Cowork share the same home screen, and projects and artifacts are unified across both.

Armmand Hosseini of Ramp, who works in Customer Success, says on Anthropic's blog: "I started on my laptop and continued the session on my phone while I waited for my suitcase."

Desktop is still the full version

The web version does not have access to local files, local connectors and plugins, browser control in Chrome or computer use, according to The Decoder. Local files and local connectors require the desktop app to be running. If it is offline, remote sessions and files are stored in the Claude account.

Anthropic writes, according to Thurrott, that desktop is the place for deep work and the full Cowork experience, where Claude can also use local files and the browser.

Beta and limited access

The rollout is happening as a beta over the coming weeks and starts with users on the Max plan. This means not all Max users necessarily have access from the start. Other paid plans will follow later, but no date has been given.

Anthropic is also extending the doubled usage limits for Cowork through August 5, 2026.

Anthropic's own analysis shows that more than 90% of Cowork usage is non-software work, and that business operations make up roughly half. The basis for the figures has not been disclosed.