tmux · iOS

tmux and Herdr on iOS: attach your real sessions from iPhone & iPad

There is no official tmux app for iOS, and you don't need one. What you actually want is to reach the tmux (or Herdr) sessions already running on your own machine, from your phone or tablet, and pick up exactly where you left off. That is what QuickTUI does.

tmux keeps your terminal sessions alive on the machine: long builds, agents, log tails, and SSH shells all survive after you disconnect. The missing piece has always been a good way to reach them from an iPhone or iPad. QuickTUI is a native iOS client (plus iPad and browser) that attaches to those sessions over your own machine, with no third party in the middle.

What an "iOS tmux client" should do

• Attach, not re-run. Your session lives on the machine between attaches; opening the app drops you back into the live view, output intact.
• Real terminal, not a chat box. tmux windows, panes, scrollback, and copy-mode: the same view on iPhone, iPad, and the browser.
• Survive the network. Wi-Fi to LTE to 5G, backgrounding the app, or a dropped connection shouldn't lose your place.
• Stay yours. Self-hosted and direct by default, so your code and keys never pass through someone else's cloud.

Set it up (about two minutes)

Install QuickTUI on the machine where your tmux sessions run. It sets up the service. On macOS/Linux install tmux 3.2+ yourself first (the installer does not install tmux). On Windows it installs the qscn session backend automatically.

curl -fsSL https://quicktui.ai/q.sh | sh

irm https://quicktui.ai/q.ps1 | iex

Windows note: the session backend is qscn, not tmux. Create sessions with New Session in the app; the tmux new-session examples below apply to macOS/Linux.

Then pair the app with the platform commands below. The QR registers this device and pins the server identity; there is no root token to enter.

# macOS / Linux
quicktui-server pairing qrcode

# Windows (PowerShell)
& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\QuickTUI\quicktui-server.exe" pairing qrcode

Open a session and you are attached. For the step-by-step version, see attach a tmux session from your phone.

Is it actually tmux?

Yes. On macOS and Linux, QuickTUI drives real tmux on your machine; it is not a re-implementation. Your existing ~/.tmux.conf, key bindings, windows, and panes all apply. If tmux isn't installed on macOS/Linux, install tmux 3.2+ yourself (the installer does not install it); you can point QuickTUI at a specific binary with QUICKTUI_TMUX_BIN. On Windows the backend is qscn, installed automatically.

Herdr on iPhone and iPad

If your agents run inside Herdr rather than plain tmux, the same app applies. On macOS and Linux the QuickTUI server can use Herdr v0.8.0 (the currently verified release) as its session backend: Herdr stays the owner of your local sessions, and QuickTUI adds device pairing, the iPhone, iPad, and browser clients, and the terminal multiplex on top. Point the server at your Herdr binary in the config file and restart the service:

session_backend = "herdr"
herdr_bin = "/absolute/path/to/herdr"

Use session_backends = "tmux,herdr" to keep both. Herdr sessions then show up in the session list next to tmux ones, labelled Herdr. Create and manage workspaces in Herdr itself; QuickTUI lists, focuses, and attaches to them. As of August 2026 the Herdr backend ships in the preview server channel (install --channel preview); tmux remains the default. Your phone never talks to Herdr directly; the QuickTUI server on the machine does.

At a glance

FAQ

Is there an official tmux app for iOS?

No. tmux is a server-side program; there is no first-party iOS app. QuickTUI is a native iOS client that attaches to tmux running on your own machine.

Do I need SSH?

No. QuickTUI talks to its own lightweight server over HTTP/WebSocket. You can reach it on your LAN, over a VPN or tunnel (Tailscale, Cloudflare Tunnel), or a public address.

Does it work on iPad?

Yes: tmux on iPad works exactly like tmux on iPhone. The same app and the same live session run on both, and in any browser.

Does QuickTUI work with Herdr?

Yes, on macOS and Linux. Set session_backend = "herdr" and herdr_bin in the server config; the Herdr backend is in the preview server channel as of August 2026. iPhone, iPad, and the browser client never connect to Herdr directly, only to the QuickTUI server.