CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptfirefoxgetusermedia
Paulie
Paulie

Reputation: 2422

getUserMedia permission dialog disappears in FireFox

When I access getUserMedia, a permission dialog pops up and my website waits until the user either accepts or blocks the request. That part works in Chrome 47.

However, in FireFox 43, (at least), when the dialog is visible, the user can click anywhere else and it will disappear and getUserMedia's callback will never be invoked. Then the user can't give permission and my site is stuck waiting. And it is pretty easy to click somewhere else, too, so I'm anticipating lots of "the microphone doesn't work" support calls.

(That seems like a bug in FireFox to me, since Chrome keeps the dialog visible until the user clicks it.) But anyway, is there a work around?

For instance, is there a way to detect whether the permission dialog is currently visible?

Or is there a way to re-summon that dialog in javascript by using a setTimeout?

Does anyone have another suggestion about how to make this user experience better?

The only thing I can think of is to put up a message something to the effect of, "Waiting for permission to use the microphone. If you don't see a permission dialog please refresh this page." There must be something better than that.

Thanks!

Upvotes: 2

Views: 902

Answers (1)

jib
jib

Reputation: 42480

The permission dialog is merely minimized. Click on the gray microphone (or camera) icon that the dialog hung off, which is still there in the URL bar, and the dialog grows back and can be answered.

It is not a bug, as it was designed to be less intrusive than Chrome, to not let sites keep users hostage, so to speak, until they give up permissions, but the behavior does seem to confuse a lot of people. See https://bugzil.la/1004055.

There is no surefire way to detect whether the permission dialog is currently visible, though if you detect a mouseclick anywhere on the page, and you have not gotten a response, then chances are it is not.

One workaround is to issue another getUserMedia call (through setTimeout or otherwise). It should not crash. If it does then please file a bug.

Another workaround is to programmatically refresh the page, using location.refresh().

If your site is not designed to work without a microphone, or you detect a user-action that suggests the user is stuck, then maybe something like "Waiting for permission to use the microphone. Please click the microphone icon in the URL bar to summon the permission dialog if it is not visible."

Upvotes: 3

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