Call controls

Control your mic and camera while you're on a call.

What each button does

These are the buttons you use during a call.

Desktop

The call controls are in the voice bar at the bottom of the window.

Icon	Control	What it does
	Share your screen	Shows your screen to everyone in the call. See Share your screen.
	Turn on camera / Turn off camera	Turns your camera on or off. See Turn your camera on or off.
	Chat	Opens the call's text chat. See Voice channel chat.
	Mute / Unmute	Turns your microphone off or on. See Mute and unmute your microphone.
	Deafen / Undeafen	Turns off the sound from everyone in the call. See Deafen.
	Audio settings	Opens your Audio and video settings.
	Disconnect	Leaves the call.
	Open in new window	Opens the call in its own window. See Use Root while you stay in the call.

Mobile

The main controls are along the bottom of the call screen. Layout (when there's a choice), chat and settings are at the top.

Icon	Control	What it does
	Share screen	Shows your phone's screen to everyone in the call. See Share your screen.
	Camera	Turns your camera on or off. See Turn your camera on or off.
	Mute	Turns your microphone off or on. See Mute and unmute your microphone.
	Deafen	Turns off the sound from everyone in the call, and mutes your mic too. See Deafen.
	Leave	Leaves the call.
	Chat (top)	Opens the call's text chat. See Voice channel chat.
	Settings (top)	Opens your audio settings for the call, like noise suppression and where the sound comes out. See Choose where the sound comes out.

Mute and unmute your microphone

Desktop

1. In the call controls, select the Mute icon to turn your microphone on or off.
2. A slash through the icon indicates you're muted.

Mobile

1. In the call controls, tap the Mute icon to turn your microphone on or off.
2. A slash through the icon indicates you're muted.

tip

If you leave a call with your microphone muted, the next call you join starts muted too, so you are never unexpectedly live.

Turn your camera on or off

Desktop

1. In the call controls, select the Turn on camera icon to turn video on or off.
2. The camera icon will have a solid blue fill color when the camera is on.

Mobile

1. In the call controls, tap the Camera icon to turn the camera on or off.
2. The button is filled in while your camera is on, and dimmed while it is off.

To switch between your front and back cameras, tap the flip icon on your own tile, or the one at the top left, next to the close icon , when your own tile is expanded. In a two person call, tap your small tile to make it bigger first.

Your own video looks mirrored

On the front camera, your own tile is mirrored (flipped like a mirror) so it feels natural. Everyone else sees you the normal way, and the mirror turns off when you switch to the back camera.

On Android, your camera keeps going when you leave Root. On iPhone and iPad, it keeps going while the Picture in Picture window is open (iOS 18 or later). Otherwise it turns off when you leave Root and comes back on when you return. That is expected, not a fault.

Choose where the sound comes out

Desktop

Choose your input and output devices in Audio and video settings.

Mobile

1. In the call, tap the Settings icon at the top (see call controls).
2. Tap Audio output.
3. Pick where you want the sound to play.

On Android the options are Phone, Speaker, Wired headset, and Bluetooth, and only the ones currently available are listed. On iOS this opens the system audio picker instead.

Change the call layout

Desktop

To focus on a shared screen, see View a shared screen.

Mobile

Root picks a layout for you:

In the call	What you see
Two people	The other person fills the screen, and you are in a small tile in a corner.
A screen share you are watching	The share on top (on the left if your phone is sideways), with everyone else beside it.
Any other call	A grid. With more than 8 people and screen shares, scroll to see them all.

In a two person call, drag your tile to any corner. Tap it to make it bigger, then tap again to make it smaller.

To choose a different layout, tap the Layout icon at the top right of the call screen. It shows in a two person call, while you watch a screen share, and while a tile is expanded.

Layout	What it does
Focus	Fills the screen with the share, or the person you expanded. In a two person call, it only shows when their camera is on.
Stage	The share large, with everyone else beside it. This is the default while you watch a share.
Chat	Two people only. The other person full screen, you in the corner. This is the default for two people.
Gallery	Everyone in equal tiles.

Root remembers Stage, Chat and Gallery for your next calls.

In Focus, the Participants icon next to Layout sets where everyone else goes: Row (a row of small tiles, the default), Floating (a few tiles you can drag to any corner), or Hidden.

Only see cameras

Turn on Hide people without video in the call's settings (the Settings icon at the top of the call screen). While anyone has their camera on, only cameras and screen shares show.

Show and hide the call controls

See Call controls for what each button does.

Desktop

The call controls stay visible while you are in a call.

Mobile

The controls fade away on their own so they do not cover the video. Tap anywhere on the call screen to bring them back, and tap again to hide them.

Use Root while you stay in the call

Desktop

Open the call in its own window so you can carry on elsewhere in Root. See Share your screen.

Mobile

Swipe down on the call screen (with more than 8 people and screen shares, use the arrow instead), or tap the down arrow at the top left, before the call's name. The call keeps running and shrinks to a small floating window. On Android, the back button does the same.

• Drag the window anywhere on screen. Let go near an edge and it snaps to it.
• Push it past the edge to tuck it away, leaving a small handle. Tap the handle to bring it back.
• Tap the window to return to the full call screen.

Keep watching outside Root

If you leave Root during a call where someone has their camera on, or while you watch a screen share, the call keeps playing in a small Picture in Picture window over your other apps. It shows the screen share you are watching, or the last person to speak.

• Tap the expand icon in the window to go back to Root, where you left off.
• Tap the close icon to close the window. You stay in the call.

There is no window in a call with no cameras, unless you are watching a screen share. Picture in Picture needs iOS 15 or later, or Android 8 or later. To turn it off, use your phone's settings: on iPhone, open the Settings app, then General > Picture in Picture > Start Automatically; on Android, the Picture in Picture permission for Root.

You can also control the call without opening Root at all. On iPhone it appears in the Dynamic Island and on the Lock Screen, so you can mute or hang up from there. On Android an ongoing call notification stays in your notification shade while you are connected.

If Root cannot use your microphone

On mobile, Root asks for microphone access the first time you join a call. If you decline, you still join, but with no microphone, so you can hear everyone and nobody can hear you.

Tapping the microphone or camera control then shows Microphone access needed or Camera access needed, with a Go to settings button that takes you to the right place to allow it.

Deafen (turn off incoming Root audio)

When deafened, you can't hear anyone. It's like turning off your speakers for incoming Root audio.

Desktop

warning

Deafening doesn't mute your microphone. People on mobile, or using the native call engine, don't hear you while you show as deafened, but some people in the call still can. Mute your microphone too if you don't want to be heard. If you use the native call engine, deafening mutes your mic too, and undeafening puts it back how it was.

1. In the call controls, select the Deafen icon .
2. Select again to undeafen.

Mobile

Deafening also mutes your microphone, so others can't hear you either. When you undeafen, your microphone goes back to how it was before. Unmuting while deafened undeafens you too.

1. In the call controls, tap the Deafen icon .
2. Tap again to undeafen.

tip

Deafen stays on for your next calls until you turn it off.