When a video call ends, there’s always that initial worry: “Did I really leave the meeting…can they all still hear me?” If you successfully ended the call, you’re usually in the clear, and can continue with whatever noisy activity you want without fear. However, Zoom has a bug that can give you a jolt, seemingly keeping your Mac’s mic active and open after a call is officially over.
As far back as December 2021, Zoom users have been complaining their microphones stay activate after a video call is over. How do all these users know their mics are open? Thanks to macOS Monterey’s privacy updates, you now see an orange dot in your menu bar, next to Control Centre. If you click on Control Centre, you can even see which app is currently using the microphone. In these cases, the culprit was Zoom — not something you want to see after a call is over and done with.
We don’t have any reports at this time of people on the other end of calls hearing their Mac counterparts after they left the meeting. Still, this bug is cause for concern; we trust these apps with our devices’ cameras and microphones. When we stop using their services, their access should end. Even if this is an innocent mistake, Zoom having access to the microphone post-call is a privacy breach, plain and simple. Luckily, it’s a breach that has since been fixed.
How to stop Zoom from keeping your mic active after a call
Zoom has issued an update for this bug, patching things up for now. On Mac, you’ll find Zoom version 5.9.3 no longer keeps the microphone open after a call ends. To update, open Zoom, click “zoom.us” from the top-left corner of your menu bar, then click “Check for Updates.” If you haven’t updated yet, 5.9.3 should appear. If you see “You are up to date” pop-up, you’re all set, and likely have automatic updates installed (more on that below).
You can review what’s new, click “Update,” then “Install,” then walk through the on-screen instructions to install the update on your Mac. When finished, Zoom will relaunch, and give you the option to automatically install new updates. If you want to make sure your Zoom client always has the latest updates and patches, keep this option checked and click “Done.”
[9to5Mac]
