herald.
Theme
Get Herald $12.99

Devices

Live Activities, Dynamic Island and StandBy for Hermes Agent

Herald puts the Hermes Pet on your iPhone’s Lock Screen and Dynamic Island while a bot works on a long task, with a running timer and a status line you control. A Home Screen and StandBy widget shows the same pet. Updates come from Herald while it is running; once iOS suspends the app, the card says it is out of date until you open Herald again.

Last reviewed 20 October 2026 by lukethedev

Say hi to Boba.

Know what your bots are up to at a glance, even from the Lock Screen.

Hermes Pet is a little companion that acts out what a bot is doing. It runs while the bot works, waits when it needs you, and jumps when the job’s done. Follow it on the Dynamic Island, your Lock Screen, a StandBy widget, your Apple Watch, CarPlay or an Android notification.

Boba is the default. If your Hermes has its own pet enabled, Herald shows that one instead. The Lock Screen card follows along while Herald is running, and you choose how much it reveals.

Pick Boba’s mood

Rev: Refactoring the auth module.

At a glance

Where
Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, Home Screen and StandBy
iPhone
iOS 16.4 or later. StandBy needs iOS 17, and the Dynamic Island an iPhone that has one.
Starts
After about four seconds of work, or at once when a bot needs you
Shows
One task at a time: the one you are most likely waiting on
Default privacy
Minimal: working, needs you or finished
Background updates
Not yet. Updates stop when iOS suspends Herald.
Android
An ongoing notification instead

What each surface shows

What the Hermes Pet shows on each surface
SurfaceWhat you seeGood to know
Lock Screen Live ActivityBot name, pet, status line and an elapsed timerThe timer keeps ticking with no app running
Dynamic IslandThe pet and status in compact, minimal and expanded viewsSwitch Dynamic Island off to keep only the banner
Home Screen and StandBy widgetThe focused pet at your Lock Screen detail levelSmall and medium sizes; it refreshes while Herald is open
Android ongoing notificationBot name, status line, pet frame and a timerAndroid 16 may show it as a status-bar chip

Lock Screen details

The three Lock Screen detail levels in Settings › General › Hermes Pet
LevelWhat it shows
Minimal (default)Only whether Hermes is working, waiting or done: “Working on your task”, “Hermes needs you”, “Task finished”
Task nameAdds the activity, such as coding, searching or running commands
DetailedThe same status line as the app, including tool names

Choose Minimal if other people can see your phone. Detailed can show the name of the tool a bot is running.

Turn it on

  1. Open Settings › General › Hermes Pet

    Hermes Pet and Lock Screen activity are on by default. Check that neither is switched off.

  2. Choose the Dynamic Island behaviour

    Dynamic Island shows the pet in the compact island; with it off you keep only the banner.

  3. Pick a Lock Screen detail level

    Minimal, Task name or Detailed, as in the table above.

  4. Add the widget if you want it

    Long-press the Home Screen and add the Hermes Pet widget in small or medium. You can add it to a StandBy widget stack too.

  5. Give a bot something to do

    Send a task that takes more than a few seconds. The card appears, the timer runs, and a tap opens the bot’s chat.

Why the card can go out of date

Apple updates a Live Activity in the background through push messages sent to that activity. Herald collects the tokens those messages need and, once you register for push, records them on your Hermes, but nothing sends to them yet. Herald’s push plugin uses Expo’s push service, which only relays ordinary banners, and the Apple key that Live Activity pushes require can’t be shipped inside a plugin on your computer.

So the card follows your bot while Herald is running: in front, or kept awake by a hands-free conversation. When iOS suspends the app, the card marks itself stale and swaps its detail for “Herald lost track — open to refresh” rather than show something that may be wrong. The widget keeps its last picture. Push banners from hermes-bot-push still reach you when a bot finishes or needs approval.

Good to know

  • When several bots work at once, the card follows the one that needs you, then the task you started, then other work.
  • A finished task stays on the Lock Screen for two minutes, then the card ends.
  • Notify when Hermes needs me and Notify when a task finishes control the matching banners, and on iPhone those banners carry the pet’s pose.
  • The pet is the bot’s own pet from its Hermes, or Boba when it has none. See Hermes Pet.

Questions

Why does the card say “Herald lost track — open to refresh”?

iOS suspended Herald, so the card can no longer follow the task. Open Herald and it catches up straight away. Background updates need a Live Activity push sender, which doesn’t exist yet.

Will it keep updating with Herald closed?

Not today. The elapsed timer keeps ticking on its own, but the status only changes while Herald runs. Push banners still arrive for finished replies and approvals.

Can people see my commands on the Lock Screen?

Only at the Detailed level. The default, Minimal, says no more than working, needs you or finished.

Is there a Live Activity on Android?

Android has no Live Activities, so Herald posts an ongoing notification with the same pet, status line and timer.

Does the StandBy widget update in real time?

It refreshes while Herald is open, at most every 15 seconds unless the state changes, and keeps its last picture once the app is suspended.

Get Herald for Hermes Agent

iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, CarPlay and Android. $12.99 once, no subscription, no account and no Herald server.

Herald is an independent, unofficial app. It is not made, endorsed or supported by Nous Research.