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Zoom may have finally fixed an annoying bug for Mac users
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Zoom has issued an update to fix a bug that kept the mic indicator switched on for Mac users – even when the app wasn’t in use. However, users have had mixed reactions to the fix.
In December, Mac users began reporting that the orange light (which indicates that their microphone is in use) wouldn’t turn off, despite the user not having joined any calls or meetings. Upon checking the Control Centre, they found the mic was being accessed by the Zoom app.
Other users joinedthe forumto share similar experiences, including one user who complained the bug was also distorting their music playback unless they quit Zoom.
The issue, which was first spotted byThe Register, seemed to affect users running MacOS Monterey, raising privacy concerns for Apple fans who use Zoom for work and chatting with friends and family.
Zoom originally responded by releasinga fixit claimed “resolved an issue regarding the microphone light indicator being triggered when not in a meeting on macOS Monterey”.
However, a quick glance at the forum shows a long list of disgruntled Mac users that continued to see the problem even after installing the update.
“Well, that most recent update seems to have made no obvious difference,” commented one user. “I’ve just noticed the orange dot again, and when I quit Zoom, Timing.app told me that I’d apparently been on a 2 hour Zoom call.”
“I’m more annoyed because Mac will switch my AirPods Pro back when I’m actually using my phone,” wrote another. “Mac thinks that as long as zoom requires microphone, I’m in a meeting. But I’m in a phone call on my iPhone.”
Toward the end of January, two Zoom ‘community champions’ dropped into the forum to urge users to update to version 5.9.3. While there was no mention of the light indicator issue in the release notes for the update, it does appear reports have quietened down over the last week.
“The Zoom client for macOS 5.9.3, released on January 25, 2022, fixed a bug involving the failure to properly terminate the microphone use post-meeting,” Zoom toldThe Vergemore recently.
“Zoom has determined that this bug did not result in audio data being transmitted back to Zoom’s platform. As always, we recommend users make sure their Zoom client is updated to the latest version.”
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Hannah joined Trusted Reviews as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating with a degree in English from Royal Holloway, University of London. She’s also worked and studied in the US, holding positions …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
