Muting all tabs instead of select tabs in Google Meet and Microsoft Teams

[cbbeaver]

Teachers are using this to mute multiple Google Meet rooms so they only hear one at a time. This was working wonderfully at first, but now I'm receiving reports that it mutes all tabs. I believe there was a recent Chrome update that may be affecting this extension? Any help or updates for this extension so it works again would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[keysmashes]

Thanks for reporting this!

I just tried joining two Meet calls and muting one of them, and it seemed to work fine for me (Chrome 84.0.4147.135). Can you give me any more details about the systems you're having the problem on, like the Chrome version (type chrome://version in the address bar, then it's the first line) and the operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux)?

Also, can I check that you're definitely using the "Mute tab" speaker icon in the top-right of the browser, and not right-clicking on the tab and selecting "Mute site"? To make the icon show up, you might have to click the puzzle-piece "Extensions" icon, then press the "Pin extension" button next to Tab Muter.

[cbbeaver]

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I really appreciate it. Let me send your questions to the teachers who have reported the issues so I can get their Chrome version and the OS they're using back to you.

[cbbeaver]

Here is one teacher's computer specs and she said she's using the extension correctly:

Windows 10 OS Version 1803 (Build 17134.1667)
Chrome/85.0.4183.83

Here is another teacher's specs:
Chrome Version and Operating System

85.0.4183.83 (Official Build) (64-bit) (cohort: Stable)
Windows 10 OS Version 1909 (Build 18363.1016)

[keysmashes]

Hmm, ok. These are all the ideas I have at the moment:

• another extension is interfering
• a Chrome update introduced an issue (maybe the format of the data from chrome.tabs.onUpdated changed, or chrome.tabs.update behaves differently now?)
• the webpage itself (i.e. Google Meet) is at fault (if it can detect that one tab has been muted, does it then mute itself in other tabs?)
• Tab Muter is buggy in some strange way

I think I'll have to build some new debugging functionality to work out what's going wrong here; I'll take a look at doing that over the weekend.

In the meantime:

• have you had any reports of the issue happening with sites other than Google Meet?
• does it happen consistently ("every time I mute one Google Meet tab, all of them get muted"), or just sometimes?
• does the extension's icon in the top-right corner properly change to reflect whether the tab is muted or not, even in tabs where the icon wasn't clicked?

[mrlefebvre101]

To add a data point, I'm trying to coach my staff to use this as well, but when testing earlier today, I observed the same functionality, which is that there seemed to be a primary tab that was controlling audio for all of the tabs. I'll continue testing and report back if I have further insight.

[mrlefebvre101]

Just tried again. The function seems to be similar to the native "mute site" that chrome uses. I currently have 7 tabs open to Google Meet. I have a device upstairs broadcasting sound to the second one I opened, and the tab muter does not affect audio on tat tab (it's always on). But when I mute the last one that I opened, then all of the tabs mute (the icons on the other tabs stay in their unmuted state, but the audio mutes). I do not have individual tab audio control.

Windows 10 version 2004 19041.388
Chrome Version 85.0.4183.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Thanks for any insight. Please let me know if I can test anything else.

[keysmashes]

@mrlefebvre101 Ok, thanks for the report – that's helpful. The fact that the icon on the other tabs doesn't change suggests that whatever's muting the other tabs isn't using the native browser functionality to do so.

I pushed out an update a few days ago that adds some debug functionality. If you're able to, it would be useful if you could collect some logs showing what happens here:

• open some Google Meet tabs
• in the Tab Muter settings (right-click the Tab Muter icon, then click Options), tick the "debug mode" checkbox
• reproduce the problem where using Tab Muter in one tab affects audio in other tabs (i.e. click the Tab Muter icon in a Google Meet tab)
  • if the icons in the other tabs don't update, it would be helpful if you could change one of the Tab Muter icon colour settings (you can change it straight back), and see if that makes the icons properly show whether the tab is muted or not
• once you've done that, go back to the Tab Muter settings, and press the "copy debugging information" button which will have appeared
• paste that information into a comment on this issue
• turn off debug mode in the Tab Muter settings

[mrlefebvre101]

Thanks. Will attempt and update tomorrow.

[mrlefebvre101]

I tried two things - one worked. One didn't.

I first opened several tabs to play Radio Paradise. I forced them out of sync and then muted them all and selectively unmuted one at a time. The tab muter worked as expected.

I then closed all open windows, and started up again with Google Meet windows open. I put a device in the other room with some music on and the device broadcasting to only one of the meet sessions and then came back to start muting tabs, and the behavior from yesterday occurred again - the first meet that I opened was the master control for all of the tabs. Changing the icon color did not cause the tab icons to update to their "actual" status (i.e. muted ). Interestingly, I just tried it again and if I close the tab that has the "master" control, the status of the other tabs gets frozen. They're currently muted and toggling the muter has no effect.

But it seems specific to Meet - or maybe the state of the audio when first muted (if it's not broadcasting audio? Don't know.

Here are the logs:

=== Tab Muter debug logs ===
logs collected: 2020-09-11T18:40:13.607Z
entries: 24
2020-09-11T18:39:57.271Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:39:57.280Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:39:57.473Z debug: set icon to audible, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:39:58.480Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:39:58.480Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:39:58.683Z debug: set icon to muted, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":154,"incognito":false,"index":5,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:00.718Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:00.718Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:00.924Z debug: set icon to audible, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:02.736Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:02.737Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:02.939Z debug: set icon to muted, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:06.188Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:06.189Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:06.391Z debug: set icon to muted, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:07.059Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:07.059Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:07.261Z debug: set icon to audible, tab {"active":true,"audible":false,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":157,"incognito":false,"index":4,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:09.401Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:09.401Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:09.606Z debug: set icon to audible, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:11.243Z info: icon clicked, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:11.243Z debug: toggle mute state, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":false,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
2020-09-11T18:40:11.454Z debug: set icon to muted, tab {"active":true,"audible":true,"autoDiscardable":true,"discarded":false,"height":979,"highlighted":true,"id":148,"incognito":false,"index":7,"mutedInfo":{"extensionId":"bnclejfcblondkjliiblkojdeloomadd","muted":true,"reason":"extension"},"pinned":false,"selected":true,"status":"complete","width":1920,"windowId":52}
=== end ===

Thank you, and please let me know if there are any other tests or scenarios you'd like me to run. It seems very repeatable.
Marc

[mrlefebvre101]

Sorry for the second message, but it appears to be that the first window opened controls all of the others. I opened them in a different order and had the meet that the device was connected to as the first one open, and when I connected the device to a second simultaneous meet, I could not mute that second one. The first opened meet had master control. (I hope this makes sense)

[keysmashes]

Awesome, thanks.

Boring technical details

The sequence of events shown in those logs is as follows:

time	tab	event	audible?
0	154	unmuted	no
1	154	muted	no
3	148	unmuted	yes
5	148	muted	yes
9	157	muted	no
10	157	unmuted	no
12	148	unmuted	yes
14	148	muted	yes

Every MutedInfo object in the logs shows that Tab Muter was responsible for the change of mute state, and matches up with an icon click event. Each tab was highlighted at the point its mute state changed.

At this point I'm reasonably sure that this is a problem with either Meet or Chrome; I can't tell which one.

There's a small detail in those logs which is interesting: only one tab, id 148, was ever shown to be "audible" – neither tab 154 nor tab 157 was audible at any point (Chrome uses "audible" to mean "the tab was trying to make a sound", so a tab can be "audible" even if it's muted). Tab 148 had index 7; tab 154 had index 5; tab 157 had index 4. @mrlefebvre101, do you remember roughly where in the tabstrip the tab that had control of the mute state was located (towards the left-hand end or towards the right-hand end)? I think tab 148 was probably the tab that had control of the mute state, but it would be good to be sure.

---

I'm currently looking at some other similar extensions to see if they're having reports of the same problem. If you've found any other tab-muting extensions which work properly with Google Meet, I can try and see what they're doing differently to Tab Muter (conversely, if you try other extensions and they also have the same problem, it would also be helpful to know about that).

If you get a chance, it would be ideal if you could also report this to Google (once you experience the problem, open the menu in the bottom-right of Meet, ideally in a tab that should be playing sound but isn't, then "report a problem") – if you can include a link to this issue in the report, that might help them understand what's going on, or link it to other similar reports.

[mrlefebvre101]

The tab that had control of the mutestate was all the way to the right in both tests that I tried - and was the first meet tab opened.

I've experienced this issue with these other extensions:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mute-tab/blljobffcekcbopmkgfhpcjmbfnelkfg
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mutetab/acofndgbcimipbpeoplfjcapdbebbmca

I will recreate the problem on Monday and also report to Google. Thanks for any other help or insight you have.
Marc

[mrlefebvre101]

Good morning. Following up on this. Many teachers have successfully used mute tab with breakout rooms, and some have experienced the issue as described above. It's hard to nail down what circumstances are affecting it's performance, but it's not the train wreck I was fearing :) (no offense).

FWIW, the breakout room extension seems to be able to more consistently control per-tab muting in my tests, but only within the framework of the extension. i.e. If I open the meeting on my own and try to use the meet muting feature, I can get it to fail, but if I use the tool to open the meets, then the muting does not fail. It's another data point, but may not be worth your time to investigate given there aren't a whole lot of other complaints on this thread.

Thank you for your work and attention. Here's the link to the breakout room extension if you're interested: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-meet-breakout-room/kogfdlbehkaeoafmgaecphlnhohpabig

Be well,
Marc

[keysmashes]

No worries! Yeah, I'm out of ideas unfortunately. I've opened a bug in the Chrome issue tracker, so if it is a Chrome bug then it might get fixed eventually, but I don't think there's much more I can do.