iOS App: Major Usability Issue with Latest Update
in SecuritySpy
I regret to say this, but muting the audio in live and video captures by default was a terrible idea. I now have to tap the speaker button to unmute every single video I review.
Either make the new button toggle the mute/unmute state globally for the app (the most rational option, in my opinion), or add it as a toggle to the app’s settings.
I’m sorry, but this is very, very annoying.
Comments
I understand your comments, however starting playback of movies muted is very common behaviour these days. It prevents unexpected sound from playing, which can be jarring or embarrassing in public settings. In addition, it avoids interrupting other audio that could be being played by a background app (music, podcast etc.).
Perhaps we can get the user's selection to be remembered, so that when you unmute it, it will stay unmuted the next time you view a movie. However, other users may not like this. There is a tradeoff here between avoiding having to manually unmute each time (which I understand is annoying), and preventing unwanted audio from playing. We will wait to received feedback from other users before making decisions on any further changes.
For now, if you stay in the same session - swipe right/left on the current movie to move to the previous/next one - the current audio state will stay the same. This is the easiest way to view multiple movies in sequence with audio, without having to specifically enable audio for each one.
i do like this change but could do with tweak. It was quite annoying when i switched to SS and it took over audio during music/podcast session.
my suggestion, it should remember you choice until you quit SS, it was unexpected compared to say twitter/X. Maybe user preference would cover more cases.
Well, you’ve described one type of situation; I present you with another one: when I need to quickly glance at the live view, or when I go through the list of captures, it’s frustrating to keep tapping the speaker button—it takes extra time and fiddling about.
To put it another way: imagine flipping through TV channels and having to unmute the audio every time. That’s why the mute button on the remote is a global toggle—the user decides when to mute or unmute the sound.
Your latest update caters to one group of users while putting another at a disadvantage. Hence, my suggestion—make it an optional setting. The user can then choose between the two behaviors via a setting:
Always Mute Audio — On/Off.
or
Remember Audio Status — On/Off.
P.S. I don’t think many (any?) other app behaves that way on iOS. When you launch a new app, or the foreground process is actively playing back audio, it takes precedence over any background audio. That’s the expected behavior, because it’s natural to assume that the foreground (i.e. visible) process should be prioritized.
I think what we'll do is to retain the user's audio select (muted or unmuted) for the whole session while the app is being used. After leaving the app and subsequently opening it again, the audio will revert to muted. I hope this is a good compromise that will work well for the vast majority of users. There will be an update out soon with this tweak.
I’ll have to use the app to see if that decision doesn’t raise my blood pressure, but on paper it seems like an acceptable compromise. Thanks.
We have now released a 1.8.1 update that does what I described above - the audio setting is retained throughout the current app session. Please obtain it from the App Store on your iOS device and provide your feedback when you've had a chance to test.
Awesome update, Ben, thank you!
Thanks @Selbeast!
Thanks for the update, Ben. I think it works well enough. It’s still a little annoying to have to remember to tap the speaker button initially, but as you say—it’s a compromise. At least the app remembers the setting for a while. (I’d go for a dedicated toggle in the settings instead, but it’s ultimately your decision.)
Thanks for the feedback @AAM, I'm glad the new version is an improvement. We'll consider a toggle in the settings, but for now I think this is a reasonable compromise that does the right thing most of the time for most users.