Apple FaceTime bug lets you listen even if someone doesn’t answer

Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple launch event in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., October 30, 2018. 

There’s a FaceTime bug that lets you hear through someone else’s iPhone, even if they haven’t answered your phone call. It was previously reported on Twitter by user

Benji Mobb

and covered by 9to5Mac.

CNBC tested it and verified that it’s a real bug. I tried placing a video call to my editor from my iPhone using Apple’s FaceTime app. Then, before he picked up, I used the menu option to add somebody else to the call and, as 9to5Mac’s directions state, I added myself to the call. Suddenly, I could hear my editor, even though he never picked up. We continued having a conversation while his phone only gave him the option to answer. There was no indication that the call had already gone through.

This bug seems to rely on the FaceTime Group Call feature, since you’re trying to add another person to the call. Group FaceTime launched last year.

There’s obviously a big privacy concern here. You could theoretically call anyone with FaceTime and, using the steps above, listen in on their conversations.

The fastest fix right now is to just turn off FaceTime. Here’s how:

• Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
  Choose FaceTime
  Toggle FaceTime to off.

Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.