Clair vs. the Claude app for Claude Code
Both let you answer Claude Code while you're away from your desk. The Claude app is Anthropic's own, and its Remote Control feature brings a whole Claude Code session to your phone or a browser. Clair is an independent app, not made by Anthropic, that brings Claude Code's prompts to your Wear OS watch and Android phone.
They're built for different moments. Remote Control is for steering a session from another screen: reading along, sending new instructions, checking the diff. Clair is for the moment a session stops to ask you something, wherever you are, including on your wrist.
| Clair | The Claude app | |
|---|---|---|
| On a watch | Yes. Prompts reach a watch running Wear OS 4 or later, with a tile and a watch-face complication. | No. The Claude app has no Wear OS version. |
| On a phone | Android 12 or later. | iOS and Android, and any browser through claude.ai/code. |
| What reaches you | Permission prompts, questions and plan reviews, with what each session is doing. | The whole session: the conversation, subagents' progress, a diff of your changes, and the prompts. |
| Sending new instructions | From the keyboard. Clair answers what Claude asks. | Yes, from the phone or browser as well as the terminal. |
| Encryption | End to end from the Clair agent on your computer to the Clair app on your phone. The relay in between can't read it. | Remote Control traffic goes over TLS through Anthropic's API. While Remote Control is connected, the session transcript is stored on Anthropic's servers. |
| Sign-in | None. Clair works however Claude Code signs in, including with an API key, Amazon Bedrock or a gateway. | Remote Control needs a claude.ai login on a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner turns it on first. |
| Turning it on | Run clair pair once on each computer, and its sessions reach your phone. | Run /remote-control in a session, or set it to connect every session. |
| Cost | Free to install. Answering from the phone or watch takes a Google Play subscription. | Included with the Claude plans that offer Remote Control. |
On your wrist
The watch is what sets Clair apart. A prompt on your wrist is one you can answer on a run or in a meeting without reaching for anything. Clair's watch app shows the command, the question or the plan, and lets you allow it, pick an answer or approve the plan right there. A tile shows what each session is doing, and a complication counts the sessions waiting on you, with your five-hour usage as its ring.
Remote Control's documentation names claude.ai/code and the Claude apps for iOS and Android, and no watch.
What each one carries
Remote Control mirrors the whole session, so from your phone you can read along, send Claude new instructions and check the diff before you approve anything. Clair carries what needs you: the prompts, and enough about each session to see what it's doing. You start the work at the keyboard, and Clair keeps it moving while you're away.
Privacy
The Clair agent seals each prompt on your computer, and only your phone can open it. Clair's relay in between can't read or forge a command, a plan or an answer. It does see which pairings are active, when and how much they send, the IP addresses your devices connect from, and the push token that wakes your phone. From the phone, prompts reach the watch over Wear OS's own connection.
Remote Control carries the session over TLS through Anthropic's API, and while Remote Control is connected, the transcript of the session is stored on Anthropic's servers under Anthropic's data usage terms.
Signing in
Clair never asks for your Claude login. It connects through Claude Code's hooks, so it works the same whether Claude Code signs in with a claude.ai plan, an API key, Amazon Bedrock or a gateway.
Remote Control needs a claude.ai login on a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan. Its documentation says it doesn't work with API keys, or when Claude Code runs through Bedrock, Google Cloud, Microsoft Foundry or a gateway.
Choose the Claude app if
- You want to steer a whole session from your phone: read along, send new instructions, check the diff.
- You use an iPhone, or want to work from a browser.
- You already sign in to Claude Code with a claude.ai Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan and want nothing else to install.
Choose Clair if
- You want Claude Code's prompts on a Wear OS watch, with a tile and a complication.
- You want what Claude Code asks to stay sealed between your computer and your phone.
- You sign in to Claude Code with an API key, Amazon Bedrock or a gateway.
Questions
Does the Claude app work on a Wear OS watch?
No. The Claude app has no Wear OS version, and Remote Control reaches claude.ai/code and the Claude apps for iOS and Android. Clair puts Claude Code's prompts on a watch running Wear OS 4 or later.
Can I answer Claude Code from my phone without a claude.ai plan?
With Clair, yes. It works however Claude Code signs in, including with an API key, Amazon Bedrock or a gateway; answering from the phone or watch takes a Google Play subscription. Remote Control needs a claude.ai login on a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan.
Is Clair made by Anthropic?
No. Clair is an independent app built by Jeff Mixon. It connects to Claude Code through hooks, the extension point Claude Code gives every user, and it never asks for your Claude login.