AI Overlay for Examus Proctoring on Mac
Examus is a browser-based AI-proctoring service that reaches across the EU, the UK, and Russia/CIS markets. It is a pure-cloud product: a Chrome or Firefox extension plus a server-side AI for review, with optional live proctors.
Examus does not ship a desktop app on macOS, which keeps its capture surface entirely inside the browser sandbox. The extension calls navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia for the screen and getUserMedia for camera and microphone. Apple's WebKit and Chromium ports of those APIs both consult the same window-privacy table the OS maintains. LDBypass sets the flag on its window, so the captured stream never contains the overlay. The audio and webcam tracks are unrelated and behave normally.
Key points
- Examus runs review either live (human proctor in real time) or asynchronously (AI scoring after the fact); both consume the same recorded stream.
- Suspicion signals include head movement, multiple faces, lip-sync mismatch, and audio above a threshold. None observe the screen window list.
- Browser-only stack means no kernel hook, no system extension, no driver - the smallest attack surface among major proctors.
- Some Examus deployments require you to install a Chrome extension "Honesty"; this is standard ext code with no privileged Mac access.
How it works
┌── macOS host ─────────────────────────────────┐ │ ┌── Safari/Chrome ─────────────┐ │ │ │ ┌── proctoring extension ─┐ │ │ │ │ │ Browser screen-capture │ │ ← reads │ │ │ │ → exam recording │ │ visible │ │ │ └─────────────────────────┘ │ pixels │ │ └──────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ ┌── LDBypass overlay ──────────┐ ← rendered │ │ │ ChatGPT / Claude / Ollama │ excluded │ │ └──────────────────────────────┘ from cap │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Compatibility on Mac
| macOS 14 Sonoma+ | Yes (required for window-privacy API) | ✓ |
| Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) | Native arm64 build | ✓ |
| Intel Macs (2019+) | Universal binary supported | ✓ |
| Examus extension (Chrome/Firefox) | Capture obeys window privacy | ✓ |
| Examus mobile proctoring | Phone-side, irrelevant to overlay | ✗ |
Common questions
Does Examus require Screen Recording permission?
Yes - macOS prompts you to grant it when the exam starts. Grant it; the system still respects per-window privacy regardless of the permission state.
Will the overlay create artifacts in the Examus recording?
No. The overlay is missing from frames; the surrounding pixels are captured exactly as if the overlay never existed.
Examus says it detects "additional displays". Do I have a second monitor problem?
Only if you actually plug in an external monitor. The overlay is a window on your existing display, not a separate display.