Apple ignored report of woman who first reported Facetime bug
Apple turned down an American woman who sent a video and description of the Facetime bug that surfaced earlier this week. She was advised to first create a developer account and submit a bug report from there.
The woman, an Arizona attorney, tried everything to get Apple’s attention to the bug. In addition to many emails to Apple’s support department, she sent a public tweet to @AppleSupport and one to Tim Cook. She also sent letters with her employer’s logo and tried the American TV channel to approach Fox News.
Her 14-year-old son found the bug when he tried to call a friend via FaceTime to play a game of Fortnite. She then tried to reproduce the trick and when it worked on several of the family’s iPhones, she decided to inform Apple. She also made a video to explain the bug.
Apple got the email and replied that it could file the bug by creating a developer account and filling out a bug report from within the developer environment. A week later, Apple acted quickly when the bug appeared on 9to5Mac based on information from a developer. Group calling via Facetime is temporarily offline and Apple has promised a fix that should be released later this week. Apple has not yet responded to the woman’s story, who tells her story in The New York Times, among others. A local TV station interviewed the teen about discovering the bug.
The bug made it possible to listen to the audio and see video from any iPhone, iPad or Mac that supports group conversations on Facetime. This was done by turning a private call into a group call by adding your own phone number. As a result, the receiving iPhone, iPad or Mac directly forwards live audio or video, without the receiver first picking up or declining the call.
Still from the video of KOLD News 13