Hermes Agent on Android and iPhone: running it versus using it

Two questions: can it run on a phone, and how do you use it from one

Running on the phone. The agent is a program that needs a computer to execute on: it holds your files, memory and schedule, calls the model provider, and keeps its chat connections open. Putting that on a phone means the phone is the host.

Using from the phone. The agent lives on a computer or a hosted machine and you reach it through a chat app or a browser on your phone. The phone is only a screen and a keyboard.

The rest of this page takes them in that order: Android with Termux, then iPhone, then the setup that works well for nearly everyone. For the full list of supported systems, see Hermes Agent system requirements.

Android: the Termux package

Android is the only phone platform Hermes documents. Upstream publishes a signed APT package for Termux, the Android terminal app, with these conditions in the 0.22.5 docs:

• It is for aarch64 (arm64-v8a) devices only. Other architectures and renamed Termux builds are not supported.
• It needs the standard Termux app, because the package expects Termux’s usual install prefix.
• It comes from a Hermes-run APT repository with two channels, stable and canary (prerelease builds), signed with the same key. The docs ask you to check the key fingerprint before adding it.
• It bundles Python, Node.js, npm, uv, ripgrep and ffmpeg, so the phone does not compile its core dependencies at install time.

Once the repository is added, the install itself is pkg install hermes-agent, followed by hermes setup to choose a provider and hermes --tui to start the terminal interface. Updates go through pkg upgrade hermes-agent, and hermes update refuses to touch an APT-owned install. The usual installer script is not the route: on Termux it stops and points you to the package instead.

If you have not installed Hermes before, how to install Hermes Agent covers the desktop and server route.

What Termux does not give you

The Termux page is plain about the gaps. In 0.22.5 it says the package does not include:

• Docker. A local Docker daemon is not part of the Termux environment, so the container isolation described on the Hermes Agent Docker page is not available on the phone itself.
• A local browser. Electron, local Chromium and the desktop computer-use tools are not included. The code also skips the automatic Chromium install on Termux. If you want browsing, see Hermes Agent browser tools for the remote options.
• Phone microphone and clipboard adapters. The Termux:API integrations are not provided, and the docs say the prebuilt CLI is not proof of local voice or wake-word support.
• Every optional dependency. Some integrations and third-party plugins need libraries that do not support Android, and a skill limited to Linux is not automatically available on Android.

Messaging works differently: the docs have you run the gateway with hermes gateway run inside a Termux session, because the package does not use systemd or another service manager. We found no Termux-specific WhatsApp restriction in the docs or the code, but the WhatsApp bridge needs Node.js and a stable connection, and the same Android limits apply to it.

Background suspension is the real problem. The docs warn that Android can suspend or end background Termux processes. Battery-optimisation exemptions and termux-wake-lock can help, but upstream says they do not guarantee the process keeps running, and the troubleshooting list includes a gateway that stops when the screen is off. An agent that is meant to answer messages and run scheduled jobs needs to be running when those arrive.

Upstream’s platform table puts Android and Termux in Tier 2: maintained in the repository on a best-effort basis, with no promise that a release that breaks it is fixed quickly. It is also not built by default, so a release only updates the Termux channel if it was cut with that target included.

Does it install today? What we found on 2 November 2026

Short answer: the 0.22.5 docs themselves open the Termux page with a warning that the package is currently broken, that a fix is in progress, and that the steps may fail or install something that does not run. The live documentation page still showed that warning on 2 November 2026.

We also checked the install-failure report people usually find first, issue 31415 in the Hermes Agent repository. It was opened on 24 May 2026 by someone whose Android 13 and 16 installs failed on a dependency that rejects Android, under an older manual guide for version 0.14.0. On 2 November 2026 it was still open, labelled as a P3 install and update bug, with its latest comment on 9 October 2026 from another user whose install also failed. Comments in between say later changes fixed the one-line installer path and left the manual guide as the gap. That older route is not the one the 0.22.5 docs describe, so treat that issue as history rather than the current state.

The current state is in newer reports. An issue opened on 27 October 2026, still open when we read it, says the stable repository path returns 404 and that the canary builds had been failing. When we requested the stable key file on 2 November 2026 the server answered 404, while the canary key answered normally. There were a number of other open Termux issues on the same day, covering things like package staging and update failures. None of this means it will not work for you tomorrow, but it does mean you should not plan around it. If you try it, use a spare phone, expect to read error messages, and keep anything important somewhere else.

iPhone and iPad: no official app and no native install

Hermes Agent does not run natively on iOS. The 0.22.5 platform list covers Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Nix and Android with Termux, and nothing for iPhone. Searching the 0.22.5 source and documentation for an iPhone or iOS app finds nothing, and the official documentation home page on 2 November 2026 mentions only Android as a phone platform. We found no official Nous Research iPhone app.

There are independent apps. They are made by other developers, not by Nous Research, and each one is a client for an agent that already runs elsewhere. Two examples, as their App Store listings described them on 2 November 2026:

• Hermex is described as a native iPhone and iPad client for your self-hosted Hermes agent that connects directly to your Hermes host. The listing was free and last updated on 30 October 2026.
• ScarfGo is described as the iPhone companion to Scarf, an open-source macOS app for Hermes. It connects from the phone to a Hermes server you operate, over SSH, to run sessions, browse memory and view scheduled jobs, with the job list read-only in that release. The listing was free and last updated on 17 September 2026.

Other similar apps exist and are not listed here. Because these are third-party, check who made one and what it can see before you point it at an agent that holds your accounts. The common point: both listings say they need a Hermes agent running on a machine you reach, so they replace the phone-sized screen, not the host.

The route that works: an always-on agent, reached from your phone

Run Hermes on something that stays on and online, such as a home server, a small machine you leave running, a cloud machine, or a hosted service. Then connect it to the apps already on your phone:

• Telegram: create a bot with BotFather, give Hermes the token, and message it like a contact.
• WhatsApp: pair with a QR code from Linked Devices, ideally with a separate number, and message it from the chat app you already use.
• Discord: talk to it in a server or a direct message.
• A browser: Hermes has a web dashboard, covered on the Hermes Agent dashboard page. By default it listens only on the machine it runs on, so from a phone you need private access, for example through Tailscale, rather than opening it to the internet.

This beats keeping a phone awake as the host. The agent receives messages and runs scheduled jobs whether or not your phone is on, as long as the host and its connection stay up.

What a phone cannot give an agent. Battery: a long-running process keeps the CPU, radio and memory busy, which drains the battery and heats the phone, and the system treats it as something to throttle. Sleep: when the screen locks or the system saves power, Android may stop background apps, which is exactly the warning in the Termux docs. Network changes: moving between Wi-Fi and mobile data, or into a lift, drops connections, and a chat bridge that has to hold a session open can fall behind or need restarting. A computer on mains power with a stable connection has far fewer of these problems, although it can still have outages.

If you would rather not look after the machine yourself, the comparison of self-hosting and managed hosting sets out the trade-offs.

Hermes Agent on your phone with ReadyHermes

ReadyHermes runs your own Hermes Agent on our servers, so the phone only has to be a client. In practice:

• It is a website, used in the phone’s browser. The workspace is designed for current desktop and mobile browsers, and panels such as Channels drop to one column on a small screen.
• There is no native app. ReadyHermes has no iPhone or Android app in an app store. Your phone’s browser may let you add the site to the home screen, and that shortcut is still the website.
• Chat apps are the other route. In the workspace, the Channels panel connects Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, WeChat and Lark. Connecting needs an active trial or paid plan. The assistant keeps running when your phone is locked or off. Changing a channel usually restarts it for about a minute, and the first WeChat connection can take 2 to 4 minutes.

New assistants are ready in about 10 seconds, and the free trial lasts one hour. See managed Hermes Agent hosting for what is included. ReadyHermes does not run the agent on your phone, and it does not turn a phone into the host.