Codex Remote from an Android phone to a Windows PC loops on "Authorize this phone" / "Approve this phone" and never pairs (updating ChatGPT Android to 1.2026.272 fixed it for most reporters)

Context

Source(s): https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/49618 Status: reported working by source, not reproduced by us.

Problem

Remote control of the Codex / ChatGPT desktop app on Windows from the ChatGPT Android app never completes. The browser sign-in succeeds, then the app shows the approval screen again, forever. QR and manual-code pairing both loop.

Error (redacted / normalized)

Symptom (no error text): after scanning the PC's pairing QR code, signing in and tapping "Approve this phone" (or "Authorize this phone"), the Android app returns to the same approval screen; the PC's QR code does not change and its allowed-device list stays empty.

Applies when

ChatGPT desktop (Codex) for Windows 10 and 11, builds 26.904.x to 26.930.x; ChatGPT Android 1.2026.265 on Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi and other phones; personal Plus accounts; late September to early October 2026.

Confirm it is this problem

1. On the phone, check the ChatGPT app version (app info in Android settings) → expect: 1.2026.265 or older.
2. On the PC, look at the allowed-device list under the remote connections setting after approving → expect: empty.

Not this when / boundary

The phone appears in the PC's allowed-device list but the app says "Could not connect to ChatGPT Desktop"; a commenter hit that after pairing was fixed and it is a separate problem. Also, updating to 1.2026.272 did not help one commenter's phone; if it still loops on 1.2026.272 or later, this card does not cover it.

Root cause

Not stated by staff in the thread. Commenters saw that the PC never received the phone's claim (one commenter believed the server rejected the phone's enrollment), and the loop stopped once the Android app was updated, with no change on the PC (a commenter said so explicitly). That the bug was in the Android app is our inference.

Fix

1. Update the ChatGPT Android app to 1.2026.272 or later from Google Play (one commenter got it as a normal update; others joined the Google Play beta to get it) → expect: the app version shows 1.2026.272 or higher. Two commenters warned that joining the beta is not enough: you must actually install the offered update.
2. Generate a fresh QR code on the PC and pair again → expect: the original poster and several commenters confirmed pairing completed and the phone appeared in the allowed-device list.

How to verify

The phone is listed in the PC's allowed-device list and can open the PC's Codex session.

What did not work

Logging out and in on both devices, restarting apps and the PC, toggling allow-connections, fresh QR codes and manual pairing, clearing the Android app cache, resetting the Windows app, switching between home network and mobile data, turning a VPN off, setting Chrome as the default browser (original poster and commenters). One commenter still looped after installing 1.2026.272 from the Play beta and clearing the app's data.

Risks

A beta build of the Android app can have other bugs; leave the beta once the stable channel has 1.2026.272 or later (our inference).

Verified scope

ChatGPT Android 1.2026.265 with the Windows desktop app, late September to early October 2026.

Becomes obsolete when

1.2026.265 is no longer in use. Open question: whether the post-pairing "Could not connect to ChatGPT Desktop" error that one commenter saw on 1.2026.272 is tracked elsewhere.