Camera Does Not Stop

Hi all,

the camera doesn't stop after closing Jami in the following situation on a GNOME session

• Open Jami on a laptop
• Under Settings-> General enable Minimize on Close
• Go to Settings -> Audio/Video
• Observe the active LED shining next to your camera
• Close Jami with the (X) button
• Observe, that the LED is still on

So.. minimize on close in this case is nor fish nor meat

• passing to the overview in GNOME you don't see Jamis window anymore, what is otherwise true for minimized apps as e.g. GNOME Web
• but it's also not just running in the background, as that should free the camera for other apps to use, e.g. Signal

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This is on current Debian Sid with

Jami Version

apt info jami
Package: jami
Version: 20221213.0836.556a248~dfsg1-1
Priority: optional
Section: comm
Maintainer: The Jami project <jami@gnu.org>
Installed-Size: 25,4 MB
Provides: jami-qt
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.34), libgcc-s1 (>= 3.0), libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.45.3), libnm0 (>= 1.0.0), libnotify4 (>= 0.7.0), libqrencode4 (>= 3.2.0), libstdc++6 (>= 11), libx11-6, libxcb1, jami-daemon (= 20221213.0836.556a248~dfsg1-1), libqt-jami (>= 6.2.3)
Conflicts: jami-all
Breaks: jami-libclient (<= 20220516.0214.9b42ad3~dfsg1-1)
Replaces: jami-all, jami-libclient (<= 20220516.0214.9b42ad3~dfsg1-1)
Homepage: https://jami.net
Download-Size: 13,7 MB
APT-Manual-Installed: yes
APT-Sources: https://dl.jami.net/nightly/debian_unstable jami/main amd64 Packages
Description: Secure and distributed voice, video and chat platform - desktop client
 Jami (jami.net) is a secure and distributed voice, video and chat communication
 platform that requires no centralized server and leaves the power of privacy
 in the hands of the user.
 .
 This package contains the jami-qt desktop client.

PS: should Minimize on Close not be Run in Background?

if "Minimize on Close" is on, it will be in systray and still active. So it's not an issue

changed the description

if "Minimize on Close" is on, it will be in systray and still active. So it's not an issue

Yeah.. I'm just one of those, who never had a system with a systray Generally speaking, from the GNOME 3+ perspective Minimize on Close is confusing.

Secondly, if you say, it's not an issue, do you refer to the issue, that the camera remains blocked for other apps, or just refer to the naming Minmize on Close?

I thought Gnome is not supported anymore?

I'm using the qt-client on a GNOME session. Not supporting the latter would be a sad thing really.

Actually you have systray icons, else it's closed. Your env is just not showing them but they exists.

Both are not issues, "Minimize on Close" literally means that the app is minimized when you click on "close" and that the camera can be used in calls or settings for sure.

I thought Gnome is not supported anymore?

It's client-qt on gnome

the only reasonable fix would be to disable this feature if the desktop environment decides to hide systray, but there is already a ticket about this, and it seems there is no correct way to do this as far as I checked as some env do different methods.

Yeah, GNOME does not use the systray-thing, but the concept of running in the background. I see, that this issue here is an edge case, but

• I need Jami running in the background for notifications, while
• it should never block the camera for other apps, when "closed".

Related

• #391 (closed)

At least one: #391 (closed)

"GNOME does not use the systray-thing," actually I use Gnome 3 on one computer and i3 on another, systray are always created and running, they are just not shown (unless with an extension)

Now that is something, I didn't know

Note also, what I wrote above

passing to the overview in GNOME you don't see Jamis window anymore, what is otherwise true for minimized apps as e.g. GNOME Web

That is, when Minimize on Close is on, the reasonable expectation is, that pressing the (X) button miminizes instead of closes, but then, why is Jami not shown in the overview?

This is however just a side question.. the camera blocking thing is imho the bug.

why is Jami not shown in the overview?

Because it's managed by the systray

it should never block the camera for other apps..

Actually it's pretty common with all apps minimizing to tray. Got the same on everything I know. E.g. I try with discord:

Open Discord Go to Settings, Test Video (Led is On) Close (In Linux Settings, Minimize to tray is on by default, systray are not shown) Led is still On, Launching Cheese will fail because camera is locked.

I can send plenty of other examples.

Okay.. I'm confused now. I was under the impression, that e.g. Signal uses some background/notification portals, when installed via flatpak and then things just work with notifications. But seems, that's not the case anymore.

Give me some time to investigate..

flatpak may works differently due to permission too.

But to be honest, on GNU/Linux, background/systrays are over complicated and not really user friendly. Ideally, the system should show the app in background if showing a camera. or forbid systray creation if they do not want them.

I don't have the perfect answer for this issue for the user experience. Note that the desktop uses the same system on macOS/Gnu linux (major diff here is that some desktop env hides them which is a weird decision)/Windows. And ideally a solution should support the most system possible (i.e. a GNOME API won't be used if only available with GNOME).

I may miss a lot of information, it's not a subject I follow a lot. And I know there is something to improve for the user on this topic (label may be clarified, app may changes its behavior).

Hi..

so I've checked the Signal situation for comparison. And just like you said, it's exactly the same there, even with a flatpak install. There are freedesktop spec based portals for various purposes, in particular running in the background, notifications and camera access are distinct. So that could solve this issue here.

On the other hand, in order to not lose the systray for those, who want to use it, the corresponding freedesktop spec is still under discussion. So.. the situation is less than ideal at this point.

However, let me mention here the somewhat related issues

• jami-packaging#7 (moved)
• jami-daemon#13 (closed)

@sblin If you think, there is nothing actionable here for the foreseeable future, please close this issue!

I think the best way would be to see a popup if someone try to close if systray is enabled while in the settings?

Or just throw back to the main view, when closing, while systray is enabled?

Or kill the camera capturing, when closing to systray, and try to reenable it, when maximising.. not sure..

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Ideally of course Jami in a systray-free world would just run in the background with only notifications for incoming messages or calls enabled, while all other "services" are killed - in both a flatpak and non-flatpak installation scenario?

I mean, even on platforms supporting the systray, people could be happy, if they would not have to deal with a tray-icon: like on a phone, you receive your calls, even if the corresponding app is not always showing up as an icon on the sparse top left space of your phone. Just my 0.x€.

it can be in a call

But in a call, what's the difference UX wise between just minimizing the window and minimizing to systray?

Even GNOME supports minimizing a window, right? It will still be viewable in the overview, while being hidden on the current workspace.

But currently minimzing to systray means, that the window is gone and a user may have no idea, what app might still be blocking it.

Keep in mind: as long as I can remember I've been running GNOME 3+. So I really don't have a feeling for the systray convenience..

On next version, if you do not have systray shown, the option will be disabled by default (and not activable)