Anyone who keeps a Mac running in another room to run AI agents or long scripts knows how awkward it is to control it from a phone. Astropad has released Workbench 1.4, the biggest update to its remote desktop app since version 1.0, and its main addition is a way to work on the computer without sitting in front of it.
The headline feature is a built-in terminal. While connected to the Mac desktop, a toolbar control switches to the terminal view without closing the connection or opening a separate SSH app. On the Mac, the terminal opens in its own window. You can check logs, edit a script or restart a process from the same app.
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Terminal sessions keep running between connections. You can start on an iPad and pick the work up later from an iPhone or another Mac. Voice dictation works in this mode too, so prompts and commands can be spoken. Between two Macs, files can also be dragged into the terminal session.
Workbench 1.4 also runs natively on the iPhone Duo. According to Astropad, the app uses both screens to keep an agent visible in one pane while the rest of the phone is used for other tasks.
Pricing is unchanged: the free tier gives 20 minutes of access per day, while unlimited access costs $14.99 a month or $79.99 a year. The app requires macOS 15 or later, or iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later.
Workbench sits alongside tools that have explored similar ground. Beam brings a single window from another Mac rather than the whole screen. Astropad takes a different route, offering full desktop access and now the terminal too.
The iPhone Duo support arrives as Apple launches its foldable, and it follows a wider pattern of third-party apps adapting to the new form factor. For existing Workbench users, the practical gain is not having to switch apps for quick tasks on the computer.
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