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Weird Safari(?) bug with microphone

skottichan

skottichan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 23, 2007
1,149
1,396
Columbus, OH
So, recently (last couple months) I keep running into a thing where Safari will activate my microphone. Randomly the mic icon will appear in the menu bar. At first I thought it was some YouTube shenanigans, but it's activating on anything from social media, to art sites. It goes away when I close Safari, but will come back over time, so yeah. Any ideas?


Also, I did a scrub and reinstall to base Sequoia (no beta) and it seems to have persisted.
 
skottichan said:
So, recently (last couple months) I keep running into a thing where Safari will activate my microphone. Randomly the mic icon will appear in the menu bar. At first I thought it was some YouTube shenanigans, but it's activating on anything from social media, to art sites. It goes away when I close Safari, but will come back over time, so yeah. Any ideas?


Also, I did a scrub and reinstall to base Sequoia (no beta) and it seems to have persisted.
Click to expand...
Chiming in to bump this up with some extra details I'm experiencing.
  • Only happens in Safari 18.x
  • Playing a YouTube video in Chromium 131 triggers a request for microphone access. I was trying to play a video hosted by reddit in chromium, but it wasn't working.
  • I never granted microphone access in Safari for YouTube.com
  • Happens regardless of extensions enabled or disabled.
  • After rebooting, playing videos may not immediately activate the microphone - but eventually, the activation does happen.
  • Seems new in Sequoia. I don't remember this in Sonoma or previous.
  • Display is Apple Thunderbolt Display hooked to an Mac mini M2 Pro
  • Does NOT happen if I route system audio to my HomePod mini.
 
mcarvin said:
Chiming in to bump this up with some extra details I'm experiencing.
  • Only happens in Safari 18.x
  • Playing a YouTube video in Chromium 131 triggers a request for microphone access. I was trying to play a video hosted by reddit in chromium, but it wasn't working.
  • I never granted microphone access in Safari for YouTube.com
  • Happens regardless of extensions enabled or disabled.
  • After rebooting, playing videos may not immediately activate the microphone - but eventually, the activation does happen.
  • Seems new in Sequoia. I don't remember this in Sonoma or previous.
  • Display is Apple Thunderbolt Display hooked to an Mac mini M2 Pro
  • Does NOT happen if I route system audio to my HomePod mini.
Click to expand...
Pretty much the same here, with the same system (but with an added Huion Kamvas 22, still happens without that installed).

Also, my Mini tries to capture my AirPods if I'm using them in the house with my phone or iPad. I will hear a static stutter, and check my Mini and lo and behold, mic's icon is there.
 
I don't get this at all on Safari or Orion myself. what websites are you using that trigger this? maybe it's not safari doing it but something else on your system?
 
SG- said:
I don't get this at all on Safari or Orion myself. what websites are you using that trigger this? maybe it's not safari doing it but something else on your system?
Click to expand...
I've noticed it with YouTube consistently, it's happened a couple times with Twitter/X as well.
 
SG- said:
I don't get this at all on Safari or Orion myself. what websites are you using that trigger this? maybe it's not safari doing it but something else on your system?
Click to expand...
In terms of other apps or services installed, I don't know. I turned off all Safari extensions and made sure no sites had access to the mic. Nothing in my Login Items seems like it would apply - Microsoft Office, Lungo, Adguard, Setapp, node for Homebridge.

The websites aren't crazy. Youtube, Reddit, Twitter, or any other site which plays video like Criterion Channel, Prime Video, etc.

Orion doesn't trigger the mic icon but they are supposed to be implementing a microphone indicator for the next release. Neither of my Chromium browsers even request mic access.
 
@skottichan Just bumped up to 15.1 and was still getting the issue. Came across using `tccutil` to manage Privacy & Security entitlements. I did 2 things:

  1. `tccutil reset Microphone`. You'll have to re-allow different apps to access the microphone.
  2. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. Safari is in that list, or it should be. Turn it off and authenticate if asked.
I'm back on Youtube, Reddit and Twitter now with no mic indicator in the menu bar.
 
mcarvin said:
@skottichan Just bumped up to 15.1 and was still getting the issue. Came across using `tccutil` to manage Privacy & Security entitlements. I did 2 things:

  1. `tccutil reset Microphone`. You'll have to re-allow different apps to access the microphone.
  2. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. Safari is in that list, or it should be. Turn it off and authenticate if asked.
I'm back on Youtube, Reddit and Twitter now with no mic indicator in the menu bar.
Click to expand...
Followed the directions and so far so good.
 
I have my Safari set to "Deny" microphone access to all websites by default

However, it appears MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1 does not give a rat's a**, considering the microphone icon appears randomly on various websites

Just now:

Screenshot 2024-11-30 at 1.33.06 PM.png
 
So, weirdly, it still does it. Yet only if it's not outputting to anything other than my Thunderbolt Display. If I use my gaming headset or my AirPods, it doesn't pop up.
 
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Same issue. M1 Mac Mini, thunderbolt display mic. Reset seems to have stopped it, but time will tell if it happens again after reboot. MacOS 15.1.1, Safari 18.1.1.
 
Happening right now on a website that hosts video for continuing legal education
The video is not live
My setting in Safari is to "Deny" microphone access

Usually, the microphone icon will pop on then off after a half a minute
However, it has now been on the entire time I have been on this website

I have cleared the cache, cleared the history, and rebooted my Mac Studio -- all to no avail

Does anyone know if Apple is even aware of this issue?

Is there a way to completely disable/deactivate the microphone system wide?
 
ChromeCrescendo said:
I have my Safari set to "Deny" microphone access to all websites by default

However, it appears MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1 does not give a rat's a**, considering the microphone icon appears randomly on various websites

Just now:

View attachment 2457400
Click to expand...
have you tried unchecking the bottom option 'share across devices' and see if that improves anything? it's possible your other devices are enabling access?
 
SG- said:
have you tried unchecking the bottom option 'share across devices' and see if that improves anything? it's possible your other devices are enabling access?
Click to expand...

I have "share across devices" checked on my Mac Studio, MacBook Pro, and iPhone 15

Mac Studio was set to "deny"
MacBook Pro was set to "ask"
iPhone 15 was set to "deny"

I just changed the MacBook Pro to "deny"

Even if my having the MacBook Pro set to "ask"could override the Mac Studio and iPhone 15 "deny" settings, one would think that, if it did so, it still would have had to "ask" me rather than merely just turning the mircrophone on

Who knows?
 
As convenient as Safari is for me to use as part of the Apple universe, this microphone bug (which I have reported to Apple) is forcing me to rethink which browser to use
 
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