System audio turned down when Safari asks for mic permissions

Hi All!

I've encountered an issue/feature that seems weird to me, and I'm unsure where to look for documentation.

If I have audio playing from, say, apple music or Spotify. The output volume is briefly lowered when entering a website asking permission to use the microphone. For example, entering a google meet page. I first found this while developing a web app using the Chime SDK and a WebKit Webview, but like mentioned above. It can be reproduced with google meet as well. This leads me to believe it's either connected to asking for microphone permissions or to something in the WebRTC connection. The volume is lowered for internal speakers and an external soundcard. However, if audio is playing from another tab in safari, the audio is not affected.

Also, doing the same thing in chrome does not lower the volume.

Anyone knows the reason for this. Is it a feature or a bug?

Best,

Ruben

System audio turned down when Safari asks for mic permissions
 
 
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