You may want to disable FaceTime if you don’t want to fall victim to Apple’s new bug.
Apple
On Monday, social media lit up with reports that a bug with FaceTime had the potential to turn any iPhone or Mac into a hot mic.
First reported by 9to5Mac and confirmed by CNET, the bug lets an iPhone user start a FaceTime call and (by adding their own number to the call when the phone is ringing) hear audio coming from the recipient’s phone, even before the recipient has accepted the call. Even more alarmingly, if the recipient rejects the incoming call with the power button on their iPhone, it will transmit video from their camera.
You can read all about the bug here.
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On Monday afternoon, Apple told CNET it was working on a fix for the bug which is due out in a software update “later this week.”
Late on Monday night, Apple’s System Status page had been updated showing group FaceTime as “temporarily unavailable.” We weren’t able to recreate the bug after this, so hopefully the problem has been solved until the software update can be released.
But if you’re feeling concerned (or if your friends keep starting FaceTime calls because they want to prank you), here’s how to disable FaceTime on your devices.
On iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings
- Scroll down to the option for FaceTime
- Toggle the switch to the left so FaceTime is deactivated (the switch will turn from green to gray)
On Mac
- Open the FaceTime application on your Mac (you can find see it in your Finder window, listed under Applications)
- Click on the “FaceTime” menu in the top menu bar
- Select the third option, “Turn FaceTime Off”
To sign out of FaceTime on Mac altogether
- Open the FaceTime application on your Mac
- Click on the “FaceTime” menu in the top menu bar
- Select the second option for “Preferences”
- Click “Sign Out”
Update, 9:05 p.m. PT: Adds update that group FaceTime is no longer available.
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