Currently, when sharing a browser tab or window in Proton Meet on Firefox, there is no option to transmit the associated audio alongside the video feed. Users can share screen visuals only, forcing workarounds like virtual audio cables or OBS routing that introduce complexity, latency, and potential points of failure.

Proposed Feature: Implement native audio capture during screen sharing so users can optionally enable "Share audio" checkboxes (similar to Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams) when selecting a tab/window/screen.

Technical Context & Rationale

Modern browsers handle this differently:

Chrome/Edge (Chromium): Expose tab-capture APIs (getDisplayMedia with audio: true) allowing single-tab audio injection
Firefox (Gecko): Lacks this built-in capability, requiring manual routing via PipeWire on Linux or VB-Cable/Voicemeeter on Windows

Regardless of which rendering engine Proton Meet serves from, the service could abstract this limitation by:
Approach Implementation Difficulty Expected Impact
WebRTC MediaStream Capture API support Low-Medium High (works across supported browsers)
Optional companion desktop app module with system audio hook Medium Very High (full OS-level integration)
Browser extension helper for advanced audio routing Low Medium (opt-in enhancement)

Even partial improvement—allowing entire screen + system audio—would resolve the majority of use cases without needing Chromium-specific tab isolation.
User Scenarios Enabled

Presenters sharing multimedia content: Video walkthroughs, tutorials with narration, embedded media clips
Remote educators: Playing instructional videos where synchronized audio is critical
Developers debugging live systems: Streaming application behavior with real-time sound output
Family/gifted content viewing: Watching shared movies or presentations together

Without audio pairing, these activities require participants to join secondary channels (phone call, Discord bridge, etc.), fragmenting collaboration.
Benefits to Proton

Competitive parity with mainstream conferencing tools
Premium-tier attractiveness for Business customers evaluating migration
Reduced support burden addressing frequently-reported UX friction
Cross-platform consistency regardless of attendee browser choice

Suggested Implementation Priority

Phase 1 (Quick Win): Enable whole-screen + system audio on all platforms
Phase 2 (Targeted): Add per-tab audio selection for Chromium-based browsers
Phase 3 (Advanced): Desktop client provides unified cross-browser solution