Zoom Updates Mac App Installer to Remove Controversial 'Preflight' Installation Method
The popular video conferencing company Zoom has been under scrutiny over the past few days for the method used to install the Mac version of its app, which essentially abused a "preflight" compatibility check to install the app without the user needing to explicitly grant installation permission, as highlighted by developer Felix Seele earlier this week.
Screenshot of preflight compatibility check for Zoom; clicking Continue immediately installs the app if the user has admin privileges (via Felix Seele)
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan
responded to Seele, noting that while the installation method was "implemented to balance the number of clicks given the limitations of the standard technology," he recognized the issue and promised to "continue to improve."
Revised installer with traditional installation process
Zoom has now updated its Mac app installer to no longer use the preflight installation method, instead using a traditional installation authorization process, as noted by
The Verge.
“They completely removed the preinstall stuff, so you now need to click through the installer as it ought to be,” explains Seele in a message to The Verge. The fake prompt has also been removed so users have to specifically click through and install Zoom. “I must say that I am impressed,” says Seele. “I expected them to maybe change the dialog, but since the ‘zero-click’ aspect was so important to them, I thought they would stick with the preinstall-trick.”
The Mac app installation issue is hardly Zoom's first controversy, with the company seeing increased attention as its popularity has boomed amid self-isolation. Other recent controversies over just the past week have included its integration with a Facebook SDK that was sending Zoom user data to Facebook and misleading claims of end-to-end encryption.
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