element-hq / element-hq/element-call

I'm having issues switching cameras on some devices.

Open
#2,878 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
T-Defect
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
996
Forks
213
Avg merge
1d 6h
Merged PRs (30d)
54

Description

### Steps to reproduce

1. Start an Element Call video call in Element X or in your browser;
2. Quickly switch from the button at the bottom, or switch cameras from Element Call's settings.

### Outcome

#### What did you expect?
n/a

#### What happened instead?
Attempts to switch cameras failed, and it seemed to the other party¹ that I was stuck at the last moment before switching (but from my perspective, it was fine).
Switching back to the original camera did not solve the problem, and I had to restart the call. Since Element Call currently does not remember my camera or microphone selection in Element X (from my observation, it always uses the front camera), this means that Element Call on this device can never use the rear camera.

This problem only occurs on a specific device, and it can be reproduced on that device whether Element Call is running on Element X or in a browser.
I have 3 devices, test results:
OnePlus MT2110 (Pixel OS, based on Android 14): Successfully reproduced the problem
Mi 9T (MIUI 12.5, based on Android 11): OK
Nokia TA-1054 (based on Andorid 8.1): OK

----
¹ Refers to Element Desktop, version 1.11.87, running on x64 Windows 11 (10.0.22631)

**My Element Call instance cannot submit debug logs, please provide a way to save the logs locally.**

### Operating system

Pixel OS (Android 14)

### Browser information

Chromium 124 / Element X Android 0.7.5

### URL for webapp

Element Call 0.7.1 (self-hosted)

### Will you send logs?

No

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing the camera switch in Element Call 0.7.1 on the OnePlus MT2110 with Pixel OS and compare it with the listed devices where switching works. No source file or test is named; trace the camera-switch path used by Element X Android and the browser. Done means switching cameras succeeds repeatedly without requiring a call restart.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, typescript
Domain
audio-video-rtc, mobile-dev
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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