Apple working on fix for FaceTime bug that lets you listen to people before they pick up

Apple announced on Monday night that it will release a software patch later this week for a bug that lets people placing a call using FaceTime hear audio from the recipient before they answer.

The audio can be heard while the phone is still ringing, and even if the recipient never accepts the call. The bug is connected to the Group FaceTime feature, which Apple disabled late Monday, The Wall Street Journal reports. A spokesperson for Apple said the company has "identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week."

The tech news site 9to5Mac reported the bug early on Monday, explaining that in order to hear through someone's phone before they picked up, you just needed to call them using FaceTime, then swipe up on the screen and add yourself to the call. If the recipient hit the power button to end the call, the camera started broadcasting video.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.