OpenAI Codex Operates macOS Apps on Locked Machines

*Codex now accepts tasks from a phone and executes them on a Mac whose screen is off and whose session is locked.*

The Update

OpenAI added the capability to its Codex desktop app for macOS. The Computer Use feature lets the agent continue working after the user walks away and locks the machine. A post from OpenAI Developers on X states that tasks can arrive from an iPhone and run “even when the screen is off and locked.”

A screenshot attached to the post shows a locked Mac displaying the overlay message “Codex is Using Your Mac.” The prompt below it reads “Press any key or click to unlock.”

How It Works

Users must install the Computer Use plugin and grant it Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions. Once approved, Codex can move the pointer, type, open menus, and copy or paste content inside the apps the owner has explicitly allowed.

The Mac remains in its normal locked state. No user session is required to stay active on the console.

Security and Control

The feature depends on the same permission model macOS already uses for screen-recording tools. Only apps the user has chosen are reachable. If the owner returns and presses a key, the overlay disappears and normal control resumes.

No other parties have commented on the change in the available material.

Why It Matters

Developers who keep long-running Codex sessions now have a practical way to start work from a phone and let the agent finish while the machine stays secured. The same permissions that enable the feature also create a clear audit point: anyone who later reviews the Mac’s security settings will see that Screen Recording and Accessibility access were granted to the plugin. That visibility is the only concrete safeguard described so far.

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Sources:

• MacRumors

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