Cowork started on the Mac. An agent that touches your files, works through tasks, keeps running in the background. The catch, for a long time, was simple: you needed the desktop. That just changed.
What’s new
Anthropic announced through the official Claude account that Cowork is now available on mobile and web for all paid plans. The rollout began last month – first only on the top tier, Max. As of August 18, it covers everyone who pays: Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise.
In practice: you start a Cowork session on your iPhone or iPad the same way you did on the Mac. And because sessions live with your account rather than a single device, you can kick something off on the go and pick it up later at your desk.
Why it matters
The whole appeal of Cowork was the idea that the agent does work while you’re somewhere else. That clashed with being tied to the desktop. If the agent only runs while your MacBook is open, “in the background” is a pretty limited promise.
Mobile removes that last tether. You’re on the train, you hand it a task, you put the phone away. Cowork works. That’s the moment an agent like this stops being a neat feature and becomes something you actually fold into your day.
The timing is worth a look too. OpenAI has its own answer in the market with ChatGPT Work – also on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web. Both aim at the same spot: pull the agent out of the chat window and drop it into real work, no matter which device you happen to be on.
My take
This isn’t fireworks. It’s an availability note. But it’s exactly the kind that moves the needle. An agent you can only use at your desk is a tool. An agent that keeps going after you pocket the device is a temporary coworker.
Whether Cowork works as well on a small screen as it does on the Mac – that’s for daily use to prove. But the direction is right: away from the one machine, toward the account that follows you across every screen.
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