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155 apps formally refused to let the Doubao phone agent operate them

ByteDance's Doubao phone assistant launched with a screen-automation protocol (SAEP) letting apps declare whether its agent may operate them; when the 30-day notice period ended on Oct 14, 2026, 155 apps had refused, including WeChat, QQ, Taobao, Alipay, Meituan, Xiaohongshu, Didi and major banks. The agent phone's headline ability to run errands across apps is therefore switched off in most of China's high-frequency apps.

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How it works

  1. Assistant ships with screen-automation for third-party apps
  2. SAEP protocol invites apps to declare operating boundaries
  3. 30-day public notice period runs
  4. 155 apps file refusals, about 60 percent from Tencent and Alibaba ecosystems
  5. Assistant honors the list and will not operate those apps

Why it’s worth knowing

It is the first formal, published opt-out list for AI agents: half of China's internet answered the agent's knock with a written 'no'.

Where it’s from

Summarized from a public post on k.sina.cn. See the original ↗

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