The expansion means Max plan subscribers can now remotely initiate a project on their computer, monitor its progress via their mobile device, and complete the project even with their computer switched off.
Anthropic has broadened Claude Cowork’s reach beyond its initial desktop platform into cloud and mobile operations for Max plan subscribers from July 8. This change is crucial as it transforms the functioning of the tool from being something employed at the computer to being a technology that operates by itself while users go about their work.
What Claude Cowork Actually Does
Launched as a desktop application in January, Claude Cowork is designed as an agentic tool for handling general knowledge tasks autonomously, positioned closer to an administrative coworker than a coding assistant. Unlike Claude Code, which focuses on software development, Cowork is built for the broader category of knowledge work, the kind of tasks that involve research, writing, organisation, and multi-step information processing that a capable assistant might handle without constant supervision.
What the Mobile Expansion Changes
The availability of the web and mobile versions of the tool carries an important significance. Now a user does not need to stay at his or her desk to complete a somewhat difficult task. Rather, he or she may assign it from the desktop computer and check the progress from a mobile phone.
The Broader Direction
The expansion reflects Anthropic’s ambition to position Cowork less as a power-user tool tied to a specific device and more as a persistent AI agent that works alongside users across their entire day. The company has been building toward a model where Claude functions not as a tool you open and close but as something closer to a background presence handling delegated work while attention goes elsewhere.
For Max plan subscribers, that shift became available this week.
