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Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

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Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#62

Post by drivebyacct2 »

jacquesm wrote: post #17
lukeinth wrote: post #2

Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. * http://w…

http://ww.com/ is also affected and we've already seen some support requests about this.

OT: That stock photo that I was just greeted with was creepy and a major turn off for me looking at the site any further at all.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#63

Post by tomsaffell »

lukeinth wrote: post #2

Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. * http://w…

Here's a suggested "work-around" (if you can call it that) - it's far from ideal...

In actionscript you can:

  detect whether there are webcams present on the system
  examine the pixels output by the webcam
So you could add some logic along the lines of:

  if (hasWebcam && imageFromWebCamIsAllBlack){
     showMessage([pick your own verbiage] + ' Skype v5')
  }
Not ideal, but maybe better than nothing? Beware - the list of cameras reported to Flash often includes junk (e.g. 'Google Camera Adapter 1', and more on Mac), so you need to filter those from your list. Happy to give HN contributors some pointers on how to do that, for free. My Skype handle is my HN user name with a dot inserted in the obvious place.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#64

Post by gte910h »

moe wrote: post #45
haribilalic wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is here? The most common business messenger in my experience has been Office Communicator. It's everywhere that Exchange and Outlook are.

Where is here? Europe. "Do you have skype?" is mostly a rhetoric question around here when asked in a business context.

Seems quite popular in Canadian business circles too.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#65

Post by benologist »

sgt wrote: post #23
pclark wrote: post #7

I have no idea what Skype was thinking with version 5 of their client. It is atrocious. There is so much white space, if your Instant Messenger client takes up more screen space than a web browser, you're probably doing something wrong. Download version 2.8 - http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php

I couldn't believe my eyes after I installed Skype 5 yesterday. Not only was the user experience confusing, but it was much more difficult to use, despite them trying hard to make it more userfriendly. For instance, I spent a minute trying to figure out how to send an instant message. I clicked on the person's green button, that gave me a dropdown box with "Send instant message". When I clicked this, nothing happened…

The PC version is getting bleh too. I had to ask my friend how to find the pm messages when he was showing me his screen the other day.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#67

Post by alexqgb »

ThomPete wrote: post #20
pclark wrote: post #7

I have no idea what Skype was thinking with version 5 of their client. It is atrocious. There is so much white space, if your Instant Messenger client takes up more screen space than a web browser, you're probably doing something wrong. Download version 2.8 - http://mac.oldapps.com/skype.php

What they had in mind was the 90% of their users who only have 5 contacts in their contact list and the 95% of their users who only use the text area to write "Can I call you" In other words Skype is designed for the 90% not us 10%

If you want to get a sense of how bad thing at Skype have gotten, check out this thread on their site.

http://blogs.skype.com/en/2011/01/mac.html

It's their "big announcement", and it's followed by the longest, and most vitriolic stream of comments from people who are appalled by the terrible design. It's the only thing 9/10 comments even mention.

The amazing thing is that near the bottom, their "Blogger in Chief" Peter Parks provides a point-by-point reply to each of the comments that didn't mention the UI (there are a handful), while completely ignoring the issue receiving all the attention. He actually gets called out on this, only to come back with half-baked line about "your thoughts about the new UI are very valuable to the Mac team here."

Which, of course, is total bullshit. They're the exact same comments the Mac team received by the boatload and promptly ignored during the beta.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#68

Post by Dbug »

lukeinth wrote: post #2

Thought I would pass on a word of warning about the recently released Skype 5 for Mac. Once installed, if Skype 5 is running (even in background), it will block Flash from being able to access your webcam. This breaks quite a few popular web applications. Unfortunately users will think the problem is caused by Flash, when it is actually caused by Skype. Examples of sites and applications broken by Skype 5. * http://w…

Perhaps they could offer a small separate sort of "Flash Guard" utility for the blocking function. We consider the possibility of rogue Flash code opening the camera and/or microphone to be a security vulnerability. Being able to block those globally is a "feature" some need.

Of control of hardware access should be by user choice only, not a side effect of an app. Counting on stored Flash settings isn't an option since many use Better Privacy (Firefox extension) or other utilities to delete Flash storage, including the settings, due to the stalking features.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#69

Post by ThomPete »

moe wrote: post #28
ThomPete wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they had in mind was the 90% of their users who only have 5 contacts in their contact list and the 95% of their users who only use the text area to write "Can I call you" In other words Skype is designed for the 90% not us 10%

Over here skype is the #1 business messenger. Text-chat dominates voice and video by far, and most users have dozens or even hundreds of contacts ("everyone else in the company"). It seems unlikely to me that all these companies amount to only 10% of overall skype usage.

I am just telling you what the numbers are.

Re: Skype 5 for Mac blocks all webcam access by Flash. Skype says it is "by design"

#70

Post by iron_ball »

zephjc wrote: post #57
redthrowaway wrote: post #46

"To ſay it is ‘by deſign’ is not an acceptable anſwer. Your proprietary, inflexible, ſecret piece of ſoftware takes control of ðe uſer’s hardware wiþout his conſent, and ¿you do not even offer a reaſon for ðat?" I'm trying really hard to figure out what localization this guy's keyboard is set to.

I think it is some sort of pseudo-attempt at a spelling reform movement, very silimiar to this http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2357504854 but even that doesn't have the s/ſ and ¿? changes.

Particularly ridiculous when you notice that he uses "ſ" for the S in both "software" and "design." Wouldn't a reformed spelling use different symbols for the two sounds?
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