More than 150 Chinese apps have barred ByteDance’s Doubao assistant from operating them on Nubia’s new AI smartphone, raising a practical obstacle for phones built around agents: they need other companies’ apps to cooperate. The affected apps can still be used manually, but the agent cannot automate them.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
Sixth Tone reports that Doubao’s developers published a list of restricted apps on 14 October. The list includes WeChat, Alipay, Meituan, Didi, Xiaohongshu, Pinduoduo, several banks and rival AI apps DeepSeek and Kimi. Sixth Tone says apps owned by Tencent and Alibaba account for nearly 60% of the list.
Doubao’s assistant uses graphical-interface automation: it interprets a spoken command, reads what is on screen and navigates apps to carry out tasks. The report says the phone, Nubia’s NaviX Ultra, starts at 5,999 yuan. Its earlier prototype ran into a problem when Doubao’s attempts to operate WeChat automatically logged users out; the assistant’s WeChat access was later disabled.
Why it matters
A phone agent can promise to book, buy or organise across apps, but that promise depends on those apps allowing it in. The restrictions show how quickly that convenience can run into security, privacy and commercial boundaries, particularly when an assistant acts through an interface designed for people.
Tsinghua researcher Liu Xu told Sixth Tone that China has no regulations governing how AI agents operate third-party apps. He said concerns about data security and privacy could explain developers’ resistance, alongside a desire to protect their own AI ecosystems. The app developers had not publicly commented on the list as of the report.
Our read
This is a meaningful test of whether an AI assistant can become the phone’s operating layer, rather than another app asking for attention. The answer is not just about how capable Doubao is: it also depends on who gets to grant an agent access, and on what terms. Users should distinguish between an agent demonstrating a task and having reliable permission to complete it across the apps they use.
What to watch
- Whether Doubao updates its list of cooperating apps, which its developers said would be updated weekly.
- Whether more app makers permit GUI automation, or block it over privacy, security or competitive concerns.
- Whether rules emerge in China for AI agents operating third-party apps.
Discussion spark: Should phone agents need explicit permission from every app they operate, or should users be able to authorise an assistant to act across their apps?
Sources and evidence
- Over 150 Chinese Apps Deny AI Assistant’s Use on Smartphone (19 October 2026, 10:15 UTC)
Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.