How Aico Routes Agent Actions Between Software and Hardware Control

Aico's default control mechanism: USB HID for input, HDMI for screen observation. The host sees a keyboard and a mouse.

But if you're running a task that needs to open an app, check a calendar, or read a contact — you don't want to navigate there visually. There's a faster path.

Here's how Phone Bridge routes actions:

Incoming agent action
       │
       ▼
Is a software fast path available?
       │
   ┌───┴───┐
  YES      NO
   │        │
   ▼        ▼
Companion  Hardware path
app API    HDMI + HID

What the companion app exposes

software_fast_paths = [
    "launch_app",
    "clipboard_read",
    "clipboard_write",
    "calendar_read",
    "contacts_read",
    "notifications_read",
]

If the companion app is installed and supports the operation, the agent uses that path. Otherwise, full hardware fallback.

iOS-specific routing

- Dynamic Island / Live Activity → task state (fetched over USB ECM, no cloud)
- PiP → agent stays active when app backgrounded
- BLE Wake → bring idle device up for agent use

Android-specific routing

- Foreground service → agent continuity in background
- Companion app → same operations as iOS
- Hardware fallback → same conditions as iOS

Why the hybrid matters for reliability

A pure visual-control agent navigates every step — including trivial ones. Each step is a potential failure point: loading states, unexpected modals, UI updates breaking the visual model.

If the agent can get a calendar event through the companion app, the navigation step doesn't exist. Nothing to break.

This means the hardware path is reserved for operations that genuinely need visual context — where there's no software shortcut and screen observation provides real value.

The tradeoff

Phone Bridge is best with the companion app installed. That's one extra install step the original USB-only design eliminated.

For users who skip the companion app, Aico falls back to full hardware control. It still works. The companion is an upgrade, not a requirement.