Spatia, compared.
The other ways to let an agent use an iPhone, and where each one fits.
| Spatia | Computer use on the Mirroring window | mirroir-mcp | mobile-mcp (real iPhone) | Appium (XCUITest) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On the iPhone | Nothing | Nothing | Nothing | WebDriverAgent, built in Xcode and signed with a developer account | WebDriverAgent, built in Xcode and signed with a developer account |
| How the agent sees the screen | Words with tap points, from on-device text recognition; screenshots too | Screenshots only | Text recognition; optional icon detection and AI vision | Accessibility tree | Accessibility tree |
| How it taps | On recognised text, or at a point | At a guessed pixel | On recognised text, or at a point | On an accessibility element | On an accessibility element |
| Your Mac while it works | Stays yours: input goes to the Mirroring window in the background | Takes your mouse and keyboard | Brings iPhone Mirroring to the front for each action | Not used | Not used |
| Typing | Exact text in any language, emoji included, or keystrokes | Keystrokes; layout and autocorrect apply | Keystrokes in any layout, or paste | Through WebDriverAgent | Through WebDriverAgent |
| Setup | A signed Mac app with a setup assistant; no Terminal | Nothing extra; you drive the Mirroring window | Build and run a Swift server from the Terminal | npm package, plus WebDriverAgent on the phone | Node, Xcode and the driver, plus WebDriverAgent on the phone |
| Asks before sending, buying, deleting | Yes. Ask-first and Look-only modes, blocked apps, pause from the menu bar | Depends on the agent's instructions | Per-tool permissions file; blocked apps by name | Depends on the agent's instructions | Not an agent tool |
| Activity log in plain words | Yes, on your Mac | No | A debug log | No | Test reports |
| Price | $4.99 once from 1.0; free while in beta | Included with the assistant | Free, open source | Free, open source | Free, open source |
| Best for | Using your own iPhone and its apps from Claude, day to day | A quick look when nothing else is installed | Building your own iPhone agent on the same idea | Testing apps on simulators, emulators and device fleets | Automated UI tests of your own app |
Reviewed 1 November 2026 against mirroir-mcp (commit 485416f) and mobile-mcp (commit 1025dd0), Anthropic's computer-use documentation, and the Appium XCUITest and mobile-mcp real-device setup guides. Measured claims come from building Spatia on macOS 26 with an iPhone 16 Pro Max on iOS 26.
Where Spatia fits
Spatia is for using your own iPhone, and the apps on it, from the assistant you already have: Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and the rest. It reads the screen as words with tap points rather than screenshots, types exact text, keeps your Mac free while it works, and asks before anything that sends, buys or deletes. There is nothing to install on the phone and no Terminal in the setup.
Where it doesn't
Spatia doesn't drive simulators, Android phones or fleets of test devices; mobile-mcp and Appium do. It reads the screen with text recognition, not an accessibility tree, so an icon with no label is tapped by position. And it needs iPhone Mirroring, which Apple limits to a locked iPhone near a Mac on the same Apple Account, so your iPhone is yours while you hold it and Claude's while it's on the desk. If you want to build your own bridge on the same idea, mirroir-mcp is open source.
Sources
- Anthropic: computer use
- Claude Code: computer use
- mirroir-mcp
- mobile-mcp: real iPhone setup
- Appium XCUITest: device setup
Spotted something out of date? Email nikasakana@gmail.com.