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If you deny the Mac OS camera/mic prompt for Orion (trigger one from https://zoom.us/test and go to start a test call), then there is no obvious way to see Orion has no access to camera/mic. A user may think this is a website request they denied, therefore meaning there's no easy way to get back and fix this.

One option might be to "pre-prompt" the user (as Orion) and only pop the system prompt if they accept? That way they can always get another "bite" of the cherry.

Or perhaps when attempts are made to use camera/mic, Orion should prompt the user via a popup, say they have no access, and guide them to system preferences to fix?

I almost flagged this as a bug, since I thought there was a genuine bug with ask/allow/deny on per-site webcam/mic permissions until I diagnosed that it was system-level blocking.

Similarly (perhaps a bug), I don't think Orion should request the permission from the OS before you agree to let a website access them - if the user denies the website in question permission, they don't want to use camera/mic on that site, so it isn't a good time to prompt them for an Orion-level system prompt for access.

  • Vlad replied to this.

    gp This is not clear.

    https://zoom.us/test does not produce a camera/mic prompt but clicking the buttons asks to launch the app.

    Can you explain step by step the expected behavior (drawing parallel to Safari) please?

        Sure - this one is a little tricky to compare directly with Safari though, as Apple doesn't force Safari to request permission at system level as an app- it seems to be a "trusted app" that will handle permissions itself per-site.

        Here's the Orion experience:

        orion-cam-mic.mp4
        859kB

        Issues here (can't say for sure they affect a totally new user, as I revoked permissions to try to simulate the user flow):

        1. If a user has revoked the permissions, let's guide them through granting permissions via system preferences (browser-level).

        2. I can't be certain I am testing it right, but on my desktop I am not able to get Orion to pop up the Mac OS prompt to request permissions to access cam/mic, even though it's not disabled! No obvious errors, the website just says it can't access it. I can see in system preferences that Orion isn't listed though.

        3. EDIT: removed this point, which was about one prompt for both cam/mic, as we have that as a separate issue already.

        4. When I was able to get the system to behave like a "new install", Orion pops up the Mac OS prompt to access camera/mic, before I have been prompted "per-site". If I am surprised by this request as a user, I will hit deny. This denies it, and seemingly makes it pretty hard to ever enable it again (for all of Orion). I would suggest you let the site ask for permission first - if the user allows permission, THEN prompt them for Mac OS permission (this only happens the first time). If the user denies permission, don't pop up a Mac OS permission prompt, as (AFAIK) that is a one-shot thing, and you have to guide the user to System Preferences to fix it if they deny it.

        In short:

        • I suggest testing the user onboarding for someone who installs Orion, then does a zoom test call (or uses any other web audio/video system, which you can simulate by visiting https://test.webrtc.org/, and doesn't want to allow that site access to permissions. They will end up denying Orion all access to cam/mic at OS level, which will create user friction in future. Above is a suggestion for how to do this to maximise likelihood they agree.
        • There appear to potentially be edge cases where an existing install won't pop up the Mac OS permissions prompt for camera/microphone, Orion isn't listed in the system preferences list, and therefore I can't "unlock" camera/mic for Orion. Given how many people are using these kinds of platforms, this is likely something that needs to be nice and seamless.
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