Overview
- Bieber’s viral posts on X and Instagram criticized the context-sensitive microphone control in Messages, joking he would put “everyone at Apple” in a “rear naked choke hold.”
- The icon in the text field shifts from dictation to Send and back to a microphone after sending, making accidental taps likely and causing a beep that pauses music.
- Disabling dictation does not stop the issue because the control becomes a voice-note button that still triggers recording and halts audio playback.
- Tech and design figures amplified the complaint, with Elon Musk resharing it and OpenAI’s head of design inviting Bieber to a design critique, as users echoed similar frustrations.
- Apple has not issued a public response or announced a change, and the flare-up comes the same week Apple confirmed executive moves including John Giannandrea stepping down and Alan Dye departing for Meta, with Lisa Jackson and Kate Adams set to retire.