Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, discussing Group FaceTime at the 2018 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Photo : Marcio Jose Sanchez ( AP ) A jaw-dropping flaw in Apple’s FaceTime software allows for users to eavesdrop on others while a call is still ringing, according to 9to5Mac. Advertisement The bug works by simply dialing another user, then swiping up and inserting the originating number via the “Add Person” screen before it is answered. FaceTime apparently is thus tricked into believing that a Group FaceTime conference call is occurring, transmitting audio from the recipient’s device whether or not they have accepted or rejected the call . Gizmodo was able to replicate the bug in a matter of seconds simply by following those steps. According to the Verge, this very serious security issue is compounded by another: While said “conference call” is happening, if the recipient hits the power or volume button to ignore the call, their device will start sending audio as well as video from its front-facing camera, again without any visual notification (though in this instance, it also activates the caller’s audio). That flaw was further confirmed by Mashable and BuzzFeed News, the latter of which noted that activating Do Not Disturb mode appears to at least block microphone access . According to 9to5Mac, the issue is even more serious with Mac computers: We have also replicated the problem with an iPhone calling a Mac. By default, the Mac rings for longer than a phone so it can act as a bug for an even longer duration. Advertisement Apple told BuzzFeed News in a statement that it is “aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week.” However, seeing as it appears as though any FaceTime user with a device that supports Group FaceTime (iOS 12.1/MacOS Mojave 10.14.1 or later) could potentially be streaming audio or video to anyone without their knowledge—and the steps required to do this are both trivial and currently making the rounds on the internet—everyone should absolutely disable FaceTime until Apple gets around to fixing this. On an iOS device, simply navigate to the Settings application and switch the toggle on the FaceTime icon to gray. On a Mac, open the FaceTime app, then click FaceTime in the menu bar and select “Turn off FaceTime.” Advertisement Update: 1/28/2019 at 11:15 p.m. ET: According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, it looks like Apple is in the process of disabling Group FaceTime features. Advertisement [9to5Mac/The Verge/BuzzFeed News]<doc-sep>There's a serious bug affecting FaceTime right now, which lets someone who calls you hear the audio on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac even if you don't answer the call. There does not appear to be any way to avoid getting these unwanted calls, short of turning off FaceTime. Luckily, it's easy to do. How to Turn Off FaceTime on Your iPhone and iPad Open the Settings app. Scroll down to ‌FaceTime‌. Click on the toggle next to "‌FaceTime‌." This will turn off ‌FaceTime‌ on your specific device, but you will need to deactivate ‌FaceTime‌ on all of your iPhones and iPads to avoid unwanted spy calls if you use ‌FaceTime‌ connection methods other than a phone number. How to Turn Off FaceTime on macOS Open up the ‌FaceTime‌ app. Click on "‌FaceTime‌" in the menu bar. Select "Turn ‌FaceTime‌ Off." You can also choose "Preferences" and deselect "Enable this account to deactivate ‌FaceTime‌. With ‌FaceTime‌ disabled, no one will be able to secretly ‌FaceTime‌ call you to listen to your audio. With ‌FaceTime‌ enabled, anyone can exploit a Group FaceTime bug to place a call to you that will allow them to listen to your audio even if you don't accept the ‌FaceTime‌ call.<doc-sep>
(Pocket-lint) - Apple is having to fix a serious flaw in Group FaceTime that enables you to hear what someone is doing - before they've answered or rejected your call. The company has taken Group FaceTime offline, presumably with a view to diagnosing and resolving the issue. It's unclear how serious the flaw is for now, so we'd recommend either not using FaceTime or disabling it in Settings until a fix is released. Some people report they can still replicate the issue (we can't) so it's best to be safe and disable FaceTime for now. Whether a fix will need an update to the FaceTime app on its own or a wider release of an iOS 12 update remains to be seen. Best smartphones 2021 rated: The top mobile phones available to buy today By Chris Hall · 27 May 2021 Apple's system status page currently shows "Group FaceTime is temporarily unavailable", but there has been no other official communication from the company so far. The flaw first started spreading on social media and was tested out by various users before Apple took the action of disabling Group FaceTime. You can see what happens in the video below. Now you can answer for yourself on FaceTime even if they don’t answer#Apple explain this.. pic.twitter.com/gr8llRKZxJ — Benji Mobb™ (@BmManski) January 28, 2019 Open the Settings app Look for the FaceTime menu Toggle the switch so it is greyed out Open the FaceTime app on your Mac Click the FaceTime menu in the Menu bar Select Turn off FaceTime Writing by Dan Grabham.