Subscribe
  • Home
  • /
  • Security
  • /
  • Apple takes Group FaceTime offline amid viral bug furore

Apple takes Group FaceTime offline amid viral bug furore

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 29 Jan 2019
Apple has taken Group FaceTime offline.
Apple has taken Group FaceTime offline.

Apple has taken Group FaceTime offline in an attempt to address a significant bug discovered in FaceTime that is spreading virally over social media.

The issue was first reported by the Apple-related Web site 9to5Mac.

According to 9to5Mac, the bug lets you call anyone with FaceTime, and immediately hear the audio coming from their phone, before the person on the other end has accepted or rejected the incoming call. Apple says the issue will be addressed in a software update "later this week".

FaceTime is a proprietary video telephony product developed by Apple. It is available on supported iOS mobile devices and Macintosh computers that run Mac OS X 10.6.6 and later.

FaceTime supports any iOS device with a forward-facing camera and any Macintosh computer equipped with a FaceTime Camera.

9to5Mac says the bug poses a pretty big privacy problem as users can essentially listen in on any iOS user, although it still rings like normal, so they can't be 100% covert about it.

Nevertheless, there is no indication on the recipient's side that you could hear any of their audio. There's a second part to this which can expose video too, the site says.

9to5Mac has reproduced the FaceTime bug with an iPhone X calling an iPhone XR, but it is believed to affect any pair of iOS devices running iOS 12.1 or later.

Share