Remote pairing is impossible: Android asks for desktop pairing code but macOS ChatGPT Work has no Remote/Devices entry

What version of the app are you using?

macOS ChatGPT Work / Codex desktop app:

• Version: 26.709.11516
• Previously observed after migration on 26.707.51957 as well

Mobile:

• Android ChatGPT app, latest Google Play version as of 2026-07-12

Account:

• Personal ChatGPT Plus account
• Not Team / Enterprise

Platform:

• macOS on Mac mini
• Android phone

What issue are you seeing?

Remote pairing is currently impossible after the ChatGPT Work / Codex desktop migration.

The Android ChatGPT app still instructs the user to go to the Codex desktop app sidebar and open the Remote Control setup to obtain a pairing code.

However, in the current macOS ChatGPT Work desktop app, there is no visible Remote, Remote Control, Devices, or Connections entry in the sidebar or Settings. Because the desktop app provides no place to generate a pairing code, the mobile onboarding flow cannot be completed.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install / update the macOS ChatGPT Work desktop app to 26.709.11516.
2. Sign in with a personal ChatGPT Plus account.
3. Install / update the Android ChatGPT app to the latest Google Play version.
4. On Android, open the Remote pairing flow.
5. Observe that Android asks for a pairing code from the desktop app.
6. On macOS, open the desktop app and Settings.
7. Observe that there is no Remote / Remote Control / Devices / Connections entry and no way to generate the requested pairing code.

Expected behavior

Either:

• The macOS desktop app should expose the Remote pairing UI / pairing code generation flow, or
• The Android app should use the new pairing flow and stop referring to the removed desktop Remote Control settings, or
• The mobile app should clearly indicate that pairing is temporarily unavailable for this desktop version.

Actual behavior

The flow is broken:

• Android asks the user to get a pairing code from desktop.
• Desktop provides no visible UI to generate the pairing code.
• First-time Remote pairing cannot be completed.

Additional details

This was reproduced with the Android ChatGPT app.

The desktop app bundle still contains Remote-related native resources:

/Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/Resources/native/remote-hosted-pip
/Applications/ChatGPT.app/Contents/Resources/native/remote-control-device-key.node

Local checks:

$ mdls -name kMDItemVersion /Applications/ChatGPT.app
kMDItemVersion = "26.709.11516"

$ codex --version
zsh: command not found: codex

defaults read com.openai.codex does not show any obvious Remote / Device / Feature flag preference. It only contains update-related settings, dock icon preferences, and the last app bundle path.

This appears to be a broken onboarding / migration issue between the Android Remote flow and the new macOS ChatGPT Work desktop UI, rather than a local configuration problem.