Zoom release updates weekly. Some of the changes are unlikely to affect using Zoom for chapel services, but sometimes there is a change that the person hosting the meeting, and all who contribute need to be aware of.
Below is an extract of the most important changes from recent updates for the Zoom client for Windows PCs.
Changes to Zoom Client for Windows
Full details for Windows Clients are here.
Changes to Zoom Client for other platforms generally follow the same pattern, Details for other devices can be found here. Note that for Apple app changes have to go through an Apple approval process, so are often available in the Apple App store about 2 weeks later than other devices.
September 27 - Requirement for either Meeting Rooms or Passcodes to be enabled for all meetings. See separate article.
August 24 - Professional music mode - Mac OS. Enhances "Original Audio". This option in Advanced Audio enhances “Original Audio” mode, by disabling echo cancellation & post-processing, while raising audio codec quality to 48kHz, 96Kbps mono/192kbps stereo.
Note: Using this option requires greater internet bandwidth.
August 17 - Extra feature available - can arrange for hosts to unmute participants using pre-approved consent.
August 4 - Meeting passwords now renamed passcodes.
July 5, 2020 version 5.1.2 - little of consequence.
June 29, 2020 version 5.1.1 - little of consequence.
June 15, 2020 version 5.1.0
"Unmute all" for meetings of 200 participants or fewer
Partially reversing the change in version 5.0.5, the meeting host can now "unmute all" participants for meetings with 200 participants or fewer - providing the participants are also using this version or newer. It does not say whether the participants need to give their approval!
June 2, 2020 version 5.0.5 - little of consequence.
May 24, 2020 version 5.0.4 - little of consequence.
May 17, 2020 version 5.0.3
Require consent if the host mutes and then unmutes a participant
If the host mutes and then unmutes a participant individually, (or "Mute participants on joining" was active when the participant joined) participant will now receive a prompt, asking them to consent to be unmuted. See separate article for more details.
Remove "Unmute All" option
The option to unmute all participants at once has been removed since participants now always have to consent when the host unmutes them. This implies, that the host will never be able to unmute a participant without their approval.
May 10, 2020 version 5.0.2 - little of consequence.
April 30, 2020 version 5.0.1 - little of consequence.
April 27, 2020 Version 5.0.0
There were multiple security changes in this version, and if you have anything older than this which does not include these security improvements, you will be forced to update, and will then get the latest version.