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OpenAI's Codex Can Now Use Your Mac Even When It's Locked

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OpenAI has rolled out Computer Use for its Codex desktop app on macOS, and its latest trick is that your Mac doesn't even have to be unlocked for the coding agent to use your apps while you're away.

codex-computer-use.jpeg

In a post on X, OpenAI Developers said users can now send Codex tasks from their phone and have it operate apps on their Mac "even when the screen is off and locked." A picture attached to the post shows a locked Mac displaying a "Codex is Using Your Mac" overlay with a prompt to press any key or click to unlock.

For the feature to work, the Computer Use plugin needs to be installed and granted Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions. After that, Codex can click through windows, type, navigate menus, and interact with the clipboard in apps that you explicitly allow.

OpenAI says the feature is useful for the types of things command-line tools can't easily reach, such as reproducing a GUI-only bug, changing app settings, or running a flow in a desktop app Codex is helping to build.

Codex asks for permission before operating each new app, and for those brave enough you can mark specific apps as "Always allow." OpenAI says the feature is unavailable in the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland at launch, and it can't automate Terminal apps, Codex itself, or system-level admin prompts.


The update follows some other recent Codex additions, including a new "Appshots" feature that pulls a screenshot and text from a Mac app window into a Codex thread with a Command-Command shortcut, plus a new /goal mode that makes an agent keep working toward a milestone across hours or days.

Article Link: OpenAI's Codex Can Now Use Your Mac Even When It's Locked
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/22/codex-use-mac-apps-when-locked/
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con2apple said:
Unfortunately, all acquaintances and friends are affected too.

Just like with WhatsApp. I don't want it and I don't have it, but because my friends shared their contact lists with Facebook, is has my number too.
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This has been a major big gripe of mine for over two decades. I've received emails from LinkedIn several times because of this. "Your friend has invited you to join them on LinkedIn!" The first time was from my oldest friend from childhood - whom I don't need help finding because I used to eat dinner with his family and I worked daily next to his brother for 30 years. The second time was from a neighbor who I hadn't spoken to in years because of an HOA conflict. Both of them uploaded their contact list to LinkedIn. I had no business dealings with LinkedIn, but now they have my info.

I'm not one to say "there oughta be a law against that" but if Congress would wake up and demand a portal be constructed where citizens could opt out of profiles and force their deletion, I would back that 100 percent, as long as there were penalties for companies like Google and Facebook that respond to privacy concerns by moving the data outside the country and then saying "See? It's gone from our servers. You're welcome to look!"
 
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When a child gets behind the wheel of a car and runs into a tree, you don't blame the child; he didn't know any better. You blame the 30-year-old woman who got in the passenger seat and said, "Drive, kid; I trust you."
 
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Daemons/services run in the background all the time, with your computer locked. (Seriously, how many f’ing processes does Adobe really need to keep apps updated?). Standard rules apply: understand what it is capable of doing, configure the application to the scope of needed tasks, set firewall rules, and apply system/file permissions accordingly. Launch. Observe. And yes, unfortunately, 99% of users will proceed directly to Launch.
 
i know I’m in the minority here, but i have a mac mini which i use for work, and now i can chat with my phone and get things done, actual work by the way, while not physically close to a machine.

this has been a very rewarding experience to be honest, and i have a feeling, we will look back at this thread and have a laugh at how everyone was concerned about what is then, perhaps a mainstream idea.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
I’m not usually creeped out by AI but I literally get a creepy feeling from this.

I get it from a technical perspective but we’re getting too close to HAL not opening the pod bay doors.
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Expect HAL was a true AI, with emotions. I know it's debatable but I tend to believe it was genuine and not simulated.
 
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