Schrödinger's Microphone: Google Meet Says Muted, iOS Says Otherwise (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by brbposting@sh.itjust.works to c/google@lemmy.world

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Horizontally stitched screenshots showing a Google Meet call on the iPhone where the microphone mute icon is highlighted in active mute status while the lock screen displays a mute icon which is not selected and inactive.

Always been this way for months. ~~IIRC, the lock screen mute button is nonfunctional.~~ Mute functionality detailed here.

Latest Versions: iOS 17.6.1, Google Meet 260.0

I should report this bug to Google and not Apple, right?

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[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

doesn't this mean you muted it for google meet but not for IOS?

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago

I hopped on a meeting with myself for further testing.

I joined a Google Meet.
I speak and see that microphone is unmuted.
I mute in the Google Meet app, which works properly.
I lock the phone and iOS reports my microphone is not muted. However, the microphone is still muted.
I mute the microphone from the lock screen and I remain muted.
I unmute the microphone from the lock screen and Google Meet unmutes.
I mute the microphone from the lock screen and Google Meet mutes.
I unmute in Google Meet and the iOS lock screen unmutes.
I mute Google Meet but do not mute from the lock screen, and I try to use the microphone in another app, but am unable to do so.

Thus, my perception is that there is unexpected and/or inconsistent behavior here, because the initial Google Meet mute status does not propagate to the iOS lock screen. There does not seem to be an advantage to muting from Google Meet instead of the lock screen because the microphone is unavailable in other apps anyway.

[-] callcc@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

I'm not sure you understand. There is a mute functionality in Meet and there is one in iOS. This is so that you can have different apps with different states of mute. The OS level control is there so you can mute the mic for all apps at the same time.

[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago

Yup. iOS mute is like a hardware mute (not really, but the “reach” is the same) in that it mutes for everything, everywhere on the phone. Meet mute is only for that program.

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world -3 points 2 months ago

That’s ridiculously and needlessly confusing. When on earth would a user be utilizing the microphone simultaneously in more than one app?

[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago

I have done it before: on a Signal audio call between multiple people, and had to do a really quick look-up while my hands were busy. Put the call on mute, flipped over to my browser, hit the “speech to text” icon below the keyboard and verbally put in my query.

With a global microphone shut-off, I couldn’t have done a speech-to-text Google query while being muted on a call.

Fine-grained control like this exists because being limited to a global mute is fundamentally hostile usability where multiple apps can be used at (mostly) the same time.

Think of it another way: does your house have light switches in every room, or do you turn all your lights on or off by going to the electrical panel and toggling the master switch for the whole house?

You’re complaining about “why are there light switches in every room when the electrical panel has this one, big, fat switch at the very top that turns everything off.” Yes, your complaint is exactly like this.

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

This is on Android, right?

Wish I could do that on iPhone!

[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is on my iPhone.

In-app mic mute is limited to that app.

Muting the mic through the iPhone control panel mutes the mic across the entire phone.

It’s all dependent on the locus of control. An app does not control the mic across all apps, it only controls the mic within itself. The iPhone control panel, however, is the absolute master control: it controls the mic before any app.

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

No fair! Why does mine not work that way?

Signal operated the exact same way as Google Meet:

Slack was slightly different in that it 1:1 syncs mute states, but across Meet/Slack/Signal, my mic disables and I can’t use it no matter where I mute.