PSA: Update Zoom to fix a bug that causes your Microphone to stay on after Meetings

No Audio was "Returned to Zoom's Platform," According to Zoom.

If you're running Zoom on a Mac, now is the time to upgrade to version 5.9.3. According to The Register, Zoom has recognized an issue that causes the microphone on Macs running macOS Monterey to stay on even after leaving a conference (via 9to5Mac).

According to a post on Zoom's community forum, users have been complaining about the problem since December. When Zoom isn't being used, the orange recording indicator light shows in the Control Center – the indicator light is a privacy feature introduced in Monterey that alerts you when an application is utilizing your microphone. This certainly prompted some privacy worries, especially since Zoom previously had a severe privacy problem on Macs.

In 2020, the company was accused of deceiving users by claiming to offer end-to-end encryption when it didn't.

Zoom "experienced a bug relating to the Zoom client for macOS, which could display the orange indicator light continue to appear after having exited a meeting, call, or webinar," a Zoom spokesman later added on the page. The issue will be resolved by updating Zoom to version 5.9.3, which was issued in late January, according to the spokesman. In a December 5.9.1 update, Zoom "fixed an issue about the microphone light indicator being triggered when not in a conference on macOS Monterey," according to the release notes, but it appears that this remedy didn't work for everyone.

In an email reply, Zoom spokesperson Matt Nagel said, "The Zoom client for macOS 5.9.3, published on January 25, 2022, fixed a fault with the failure to correctly discontinue the microphone use post-meeting." "Zoom has found that audio data was not communicated back to Zoom's platform as a result of this error. As always, we urge that customers update their Zoom client to the most recent version."

Before the upgrade, the orange indicator light displayed in the Control Center and menu bar when Zoom was open (but not being used for a video conversation), and the light disappeared quickly after installing the update, according to one of my colleagues, Dan Seifert. On a Mac, launch Zoom, click your profile image in the top-right area of the window, and select "Check for Updates." Zoom will look for and install the most recent update automatically.