Zoom NOT muted on iPhone app, participants ARE muted: can PRESENTER still hear me?

[OopSeeDayZee]

I'm a regular Zoom participant on desktop. I'm a "seasoned" Zoom participant. But I've never used Zoom on my iPhone ... until today. And today, something VERY unexpected happened to me on mobile ... apparently, you can be a participant on a Zoom call that has all participants muted in one "window" ... but in a separate iPhone "window", your microphone can be enabled, with no ability to see that separate "window" when you're watching the Zoom event?

I guess you would somehow have to just "know" that there's also a second Zoom window, and that your microphone might be enabled over there? And if that's the case ... wouldn't the presenter be able to hear me?

If you know the answer, that's probably all the info you need to answer my question ... if not, all the detail is below ... no need to read below here if you can already answer my question in the Subject of this post. Thanks.

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This morning, I installed the Zoom app on my iPhone, logged in, and then clicked an emailed zoom link. Because I was installing the app, I was late to the meeting, so the meeting/event had already started when I joined.
 
Right away, I noticed the controls are different on mobile than what I usually see ... there's nothing in the lower-left corner to enable/disable my mic. And, I couldn't find any controls to turn on/off my camera and mic. So ... I assumed the presenter had participants muted (makes sense, it was a really big event). However, I was uneasy about not knowing where the mute/unmute would normally be for mobile.
 
So, my hubby popped into the iphone settings for me, and disabled my microphone for the Zoom app there. That disconnected me from the meeting, so I clicked the email link again and was back in the meeting. Then, I laid the phone on the table, camera pointing down.
 
Everything seemed fine. We both chatted, and listened to the presentation for more than a half hour. Then, I picked up my phone to google something, and when scrolling thru the open apps I noticed something shocking ... there was not one but TWO iPhone window slots taken for the Zoom app!
 
One app window/slot was showing the video presentation we were watching/listening to ... but a second one had a control panel that looked very similar to an iPhone phone call. And ... horror ... the microphone there was unmuted!!!
 
I immediately clicked the microphone to mute it, took a screenshot, then clicked the big red "X" at the bottom, and BOTH iPhone window/slots closed. (In the lower right corner of this "phone" display was a round "Zoom" option I've never seen before.)
 
I'm positive that the presenter had participants muted for the meeting, since I was watching/listening, had the volume up, there was no feedback, and nobody (there were more than 200 people on the meeting) complained about background noise.
 
My question is ... could the PRESENTERS hear me?


I say presenters plural, because it's a big operation and they have multiple people facilitating their Zoom meetings/events. Presenters could be seen and heard, but Participants could not. So ... even though the presentation wasn't broadcasting my audio ... was my iPhone's audio available for one of the meeting facilitators to hear?


Again, I'm completely familiar with desktop participant zoom controls, but completely UNfamiliar with Presenter controls and options. And I'm also completely unfamiliar with the iPhone mobile Zoom app controls for participants.


Is it possible that my iPhone Zoom app has some sort of different setting that routes my phone's audio as a phone call instead of thru the Zoom app? And that THAT microphone could be enabled? And that presenters could hear that "phone call" audio even if participants could not?


And if so ... shouldn't the video zoom window have some sort of display to warn/remind me to check a hidden, separate window with the mute control? I couldn't get to that second window from the event/meeting window (I was clicking around looking for one). I only saw it much later when I swiped up and over to get to my browser, without closing the zoom app window.


Screenshots of iPhone attached.

[OopSeeDayZee]

Ok ... I found a few answers on my own.

First, there are default settings in the mobile app that are available once you've joined a meeting. And, one of those is "Always Show Meeting Controls". Mine was off, I just started a test meeting on my laptop, and then set that to "on" on my mobile. Seems that should maybe be on by default.

Second ... it turns out that yes, there are 2 windows open on iPhone when you start a Zoom call, but you can only see one app-window at a time. And, the one you are in during a call is the Video meeting. The Audio controls are in a separate window behind that one. That was not intuitive for me, I don't think I've seen any other iPhone app work this way.

Third ... I think the Presenter was using some sort of Zoom "Webinar" platform, with some custom settings that control how Participants see the meeting. I did some testing just now with regular old Zoom meetings, and I see that not everything looks the same.

For example, on my test Zoom meeting, my phone shows a "safety" feature for driving, where I have to tap a big button to enable the mic. But I never saw that when I was on the Webinar. I had no clue my mic was on.

The only unanswered question I still have is whether or not the Presenter was able to hear me in this case, even though nobody else could. And, I can't test that as I don't have access to this special "Webinar" Presenter feature.

I didn't realize it was possible for Presenters to hear my audio even if nobody else could ... I'll definitely be triple-checking my mute settings on every call in the future. That said, I am confident that if my Mute is on, I'm definitely Muted. So I'll just make sure that Mute button is always where I can see it.

[saddleclubhoa]

I have a similar situation I am here to get answers for.  I host a regular zoom meeting for a large group of people.  We "MUTE ALL" while someone is presenting.  Everyone in the meeting is muted except the person who called into the meeting on an iPhone.  That person's background can be heard no matter what we do.  Everyone else has to be asked to unmute, but our Zoom meeting cannot control the one person's audio at all.  I am here for answers...

[ccalabrese]

Have you gotten an answer on this?  We have had all staff meetings that this has interrupted the last few weeks.

[QuickRick]

I had the same issue this morning on our daily meeting. One participant (I can't tell whether they are on an I Phone or not) could not be muted and his mic was on, disrupting the meeting. I didn't see any way that I could mute him, like all of the other participants. Need an answer to this one, as the only other way I can see to deal with it is to eject the participant from the meeting.