Apple to Fix Major FaceTime Bug That Lets People Covertly Hear Your Audio and See Your Video 'Later This Week' [Updated]

Apple is planning to address a major FaceTime bug that allows anyone who FaceTimes you see the audio and video from your iPhone or iPad even if you don't answer the call.

In a statement made to Axios, Apple said it was aware of the issue and has identified a fix that will be "released in a software update later this week."


It's not clear when "later this week" is, but Apple will presumably address the bug as quickly as possible because it us a huge privacy violation. While it was originally thought that it only allowed someone who called to hear your FaceTime audio, pressing the power button on a device also allows video to be seen.

These FaceTime calls can be made covertly and are super easy to initiate, requiring only a few steps as outlined in our original post on the subject.

All you need to do is initiate a FaceTime call and add your own number to it while it's ringing, forcing a connection with another person. There is no way to stop someone from using FaceTime this way other than disabling FaceTime on your devices.

Update: Apple appears to have temporarily addressed the issue by disabling Group FaceTime calls server side. On Apple's System Status page, Group FaceTime is now listed as unavailable.