Silent apps let Doubao in. The 151 that said no keep it out.

ByteDance's Doubao Phone Assistant said it would gradually enable screen automation in third-party apps after a notice period ended on October 14, with 151 apps refusing access. ^[1][2]

The refusal list includes WeChat, QQ, Taobao, Alipay, Meituan, Pinduoduo, DeepSeek and Kimi, according to reports citing the assistant's official account. Their refusal prevents Doubao from reading and manipulating those apps' screens to carry out tasks. People can still install, open and use the apps themselves. ^[2][3]

The change moves the assistant beyond a system where outside apps generally had to agree before it could operate them. Doubao now says it will gradually allow screen automation in apps whose developers have neither responded nor joined its access protocol, while continuing to exclude those that explicitly refuse. Developers can still opt out later. ^[1][3]

That makes an app maker's silence newly important. Before the deadline, it kept Doubao out. After the deadline, it may allow the assistant in. The practical reach of the product will depend on both that staged rollout and the choices developers continue to make. ^[1][3]

From answering to acting

Screen automation lets the assistant identify items displayed inside an app and simulate actions such as tapping a button or entering text. The product's promise is that a user can give the phone a task and have Doubao perform the steps across apps, rather than merely explain how to do them. ^[3]

This puts the assistant in a different relationship with an app from an ordinary chatbot. It needs to interact with the service itself. An answer can be delivered in a conversation, but completing an action requires access to the place where that action happens.

Doubao's rules for this access are called the Screen Automation Execution Protocol, or SAEP. During its 30-day public notice period, Doubao said it would automate actions only in system apps, ByteDance apps and third-party apps that had expressly agreed. Other third-party apps were excluded by default. ^[1][3]

With that period over, Doubao says access will expand in stages according to risk. It is not announcing that every app outside the refusal list can immediately be operated. The list of services the assistant can actually use may change as the rollout proceeds and developers update their decisions. ^[1][2][3]

The reports do not explain which apps will be enabled first, how the risk categories work or what confirmations and safeguards will govern actions in apps that have not opted out. They also do not establish individual developers' reasons for refusing or how far Doubao can complete tasks through other methods when screen automation is unavailable. The announcement and list are attributed to Doubao's official account through secondary reports. ^[1][2][3]

The missing apps matter

The 151 refusals extend across social networking, shopping, local services, travel, finance and AI tools, according to Jiemian. The exclusions therefore cut across several kinds of activity that a phone assistant might otherwise help a person complete. ^[3]

Tencent and affiliated apps account for 65 entries. Alibaba and affiliated apps account for another 23. Together, that is 88 of the 151 refusals, more than half the list. ^[2][3]

The names make the constraint more tangible than the total alone. WeChat and QQ are messaging services. Taobao and Pinduoduo are shopping platforms. Alipay provides payment and financial services, while Meituan covers local services including food delivery. All appear on the reported refusal list. ^[2][3]

DeepSeek and Kimi, themselves AI services, are also among the apps declining access. The boundary therefore runs through the AI industry as well as between an AI assistant and other kinds of software. ^[2][3]

Jiemian said the breadth of the list could constrain Doubao's ability to complete cross-app tasks in commonly used services. A phone can carry both the assistant and an excluded app, yet Doubao cannot use screen automation to perform the user's steps inside that app. ^[3]

This is where the product promise meets the app owner's decision. A user may want one assistant to handle a task from beginning to end, but each app involved can set a boundary on this method of access. A refusal in a widely used service can matter more to that user's task than access to several less relevant ones.

A launch with limits already in place

The consumer version of Doubao Phone Assistant launched on September 14, 2026, with screen automation in beta. The Nubia NaviX Ultra phone, which carries the assistant, went on sale on September 16. ^[1][3]

The access dispute predates that consumer release. Doubao's earlier M153 prototype had encountered restrictions from some apps, and the SAEP process followed those app-side limits. The notice period was an attempt to establish a process for deciding where screen operation could proceed. ^[3]

Its expiry changes the default, but leaves developers with an ongoing veto. For app makers, the decision is now whether to allow an outside assistant to act inside their products, rather than simply answer questions about them. For users, the useful measure will be which tasks the assistant can finish.

The next step is Doubao's risk-based expansion into apps that have not refused. Explicit refusals remain binding, and developers retain the right to add theirs after the rollout begins. ^[1][3]