[BUG] iOS Remote Control: project/folder selection step disappeared when creating a new session on a connected Mac — sessions always start at $HOME

Environment

• Client: Claude mobile app (iOS), creating a new session via "+" → Remote Control → my Mac mini (now displayed as "Mac.AirPort")
• Host: Mac mini, macOS (Darwin 25.5.0), Claude Code / Claude Desktop up to date
• Started: after the Chat/Cowork merge rollout around July 8–9, 2026

Description

Before the Chat/Cowork merge, creating a new session from the iOS app via Remote Control let me pick which project folder on the connected Mac the session should start in. Since the rollout, the environment picker still shows my machine (under a new display name, "Mac.AirPort", alongside the separate "Cloud environment: Default" entry), but the project/folder selection step that used to follow is gone. Every new session created from iOS now starts with cwd = $HOME.

Impact

Because the session no longer starts in the project directory:

• The project's CLAUDE.md is not auto-loaded (project instructions silently missing).
• Project-scoped .mcp.json / mcpServers (e.g. Chrome browser control) are not available in the session.
• Users with multiple project "brains" on one machine can no longer route a mobile session to the right one; workflows that depend on project context break silently.

This looks like the mobile counterpart of the desktop regression reported in #76694 ("Choose a folder" lost after the Chat/Cowork merge) — filing separately because the iOS Remote Control flow is a distinct entry point and I haven't seen a mobile-specific report yet.

Steps to reproduce

1. On iOS, tap "+" to create a new session.
2. Choose Remote Control and select a connected Mac (shown as "<hostname>.AirPort").
3. Observe: no project/folder picker is offered; the session starts immediately.
4. In the session, check the working directory — it is the user's home directory, and the intended project's CLAUDE.md / MCP servers are not loaded.

Expected behavior

After selecting the remote machine, offer the project/folder selection step (as before the merge), or at minimum let the session inherit a user-configurable default project directory instead of $HOME.

Related issues

• #76694 — Cowork: new projects lost "Choose a folder" (desktop)
• #76143 — silent switch to remote-by-default sessions
• #76187 — Windows: project context folders never mount in new sessions
• #76604 — projects disappear / connector tools never reach Cowork sessions since the merge rollout
• #76811 — Remote Control environment lifecycle issues

Workaround

Creating sessions directly on the Mac (desktop app) instead of from iOS, plus a bootstrap block in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md that redirects sessions landing in $HOME to the intended project rules.