Wesley Hilliard
Live performers are complaining that Apple's macOS Monterey microphone in use alert, an orange dot in the Menu Bar, has rendered the Mac unusable during events.
Apple implemented a visual representation that alerts users to any application or device accessing their microphone or camera — an orange or green dot in the Menu Bar. This security feature is meant to draw users' attention to inadvertent access but has been implemented in a way that is disruptive to visual artists.
When a microphone is in use during any circumstance, the orange dot appears by the Control Center in the Menu Bar on every connected display. This occurs even when the Menu Bar is disabled on external monitors, except the dot appears floating in space in the upper right corner.
Many artists in the music industry output visuals to an external monitor or projector while playing live shows. An orange dot on a 24-inch monitor may not seem like an issue, but once it is shown on a 50-foot display in front of a crowd, it quickly becomes a disruption.
Members of the music community aren't happy with this implementation and are reaching out to Apple for some kind of user-facing toggle. At the minimum, artists are asking Apple to remove the orange dot from external displays.
The developer of one popular audio-visual graphics client, Isadora, called the feature "totally unacceptable." He asks that everyone go to the macOS feedback page and submit a report, or send a tweet reply to the Apple Support account.
"This must get fixed and we need to make some noise to make sure it does," said the Isadora developer in a forum post.
A green light means your camera is in use. And in macOS Monterey, an orange dot in the menu bar means your microphone is in use.
— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) October 29, 2021
Here's what it looks like. pic.twitter.com/ejszxvDa7W
A temporary fix has been shared by "s4y" on Github. This application will remove the orange dot. It isn't officially endorsed by Apple and could be disabled at any time with a future macOS update.
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34 Comments
My guess is that Apple would make it extremely difficult to disable as any malware would use the feature to prevent the victim from noticing the open microphone. It almost has to be tied to the hardware to be effective.
It's not just live performers. I record video tutorials and screencasts using ScreenFlow. Anytime I record my screen, that annoying orange dot is ever-present. I can't ship videos to my clients containing a bright orange dot in the corner of every screen, but without an option to remove it, Apple has put me in a difficult spot. I appreciate Apple's commitment to privacy, but in this case, it seems they failed to consider the creators who rely on their platform.
Next we will hear from photographers angry that their landscapes are being spoiled by these red eight sided signs and will demand their removal.
Sorry but A) this is for all of our protection, and B )it really isn’t that big a deal. I’ve seen a number of exported videos with a little orange dot in the corner. This is Much Ado About NOTHING.
Real artists would use an appropriate app like ProPresenter, Pro Video Player, or others to do this.
A homegrown "DJ" should be using something like this, to begin with.
If they need one software, ProPresenter is amazing for this.
If they need to live mix, use DJ software and ProPresenter. Simple. and way better than simply extending your OS screen.
None of these complaints makes any sense.
Isadora needs to make a better app. Sounds like they don't know what they are doing.
I personally have had ZERO issues with this when setting up concerts and conferences.
If your menu bar is showing up on the LED wall or whatever, you are doing it wrong.