Should I update LockDown Browser the week before an exam?

Only if your institution has not pinned the LDB version. If pinned, accept the institutional build. If free to update, install at least 48 hours before the exam and run a practice quiz to confirm.

Does a macOS update require re-granting permissions to LockDown Browser?

Almost always yes after a macOS major version update. The TCC database semantics change between releases; previously-granted Screen Recording, Camera, and Microphone permissions frequently need re-confirmation.

How do I check what version of LockDown Browser I have?

LockDown Browser application menu > About LockDown Browser. The build number is the authoritative identifier; the user-visible version (2.1.x) is the marketing identifier.

Can I roll back a LockDown Browser update?

Yes if your institution retains the prior installer. Uninstall the current build, reinstall the prior installer, re-grant permissions, and run a practice quiz to confirm.

Are LockDown Browser updates mandatory?

They become effectively mandatory when your institution's configured minimum-version check rejects older builds. Until that point, older builds continue to work for unaffected exams.

Where are the official LockDown Browser release notes?

Respondus publishes release notes at web.respondus.com/he/lockdownbrowser/resources/. The institutional LDB download page sometimes mirrors them with institution-specific notes.

Misconception: A LockDown Browser update can be safely deferred until exam day.

Updates frequently invalidate TCC permissions and may require a fresh practice-quiz validation. Install at least 48 hours before the exam and run a practice quiz to confirm; do not install on exam day.

Misconception: macOS minor updates do not affect LockDown Browser.

macOS minor updates occasionally touch TCC database semantics and ScreenCaptureKit internals. Major updates almost always do. Treat any macOS update as potentially invalidating LDB permissions.

Misconception: Rolling back a macOS major version is a supported workflow.

Apple does not support downgrading macOS major versions; doing so requires a clean reinstall from a Time Machine backup or USB installer. Plan macOS major upgrades carefully relative to exam schedules.

Misconception: The LockDown Browser version on the Respondus.com website is the version your institution uses.

Some institutions pin a specific LDB version. The institutional LDB download page is the authoritative source; the Respondus.com generic build may produce subtle differences in Monitor configuration and SSO handshake.

Misconception: Update notes never mention privacy-permission changes.

Major LDB updates and macOS major-version notes frequently call out TCC permission scope changes. Read the relevant release notes; ignoring them is the most common cause of post-update exam failure.

Misconception: A successful LDB self-test means the update is complete.

The self-test verifies the binary, not the full SSO / Monitor / recording chain. A successful self-test plus a successful institutional practice quiz is the actual confirmation that an update is fully working.

Respondus Market Share Analysis: 2026 Industry Report

Last updated 2026-05-13 · LDBypass Editorial · Reviewed by L. Ferreira on December 16, 2026

Estimated 2026 US academic proctoring market shares: Respondus ~45%, Proctorio ~20%, Honorlock ~15%, Examity/Meazure ~10%, others ~10%. Respondus dominates US/Canada; Inspera and SEB dominate Europe; Mercer Mettl dominates India.

Quick reference

Field	Value
Release	Respondus Market Share Analysis: 2026 Industry Report
Affected component	Respondus LockDown Browser
Most common post-update issue	Screen Recording permission silently revoked; re-grant via System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording
Mandatory verification action	Run the institutional practice quiz before relying on the configuration for a graded exam
Authoritative release notes	Respondus resources for LDB releases; Apple Support for macOS releases

Prerequisites

Administrator credentials on the Mac (required to install LDB updates or macOS major updates).
A current Time Machine backup before any macOS major-version update (rollback is non-trivial otherwise).
At least 48 hours between the update and any scheduled graded exam.
A copy of the relevant release notes (Respondus resources page for LDB; Apple Support for macOS).
Documentation of the previous working configuration (LDB build number from About menu; macOS version from `sw_vers`).

Industry analysis 2026.

US/Canada academic market

Respondus LockDown Browser: ~45%
Proctorio: ~20%
Honorlock: ~15%
Examity/Meazure Learning: ~10%
Others: ~10%

EU market

Safe Exam Browser: ~30%
Inspera: ~25%
Respondus: ~15%
ILIAS/Moodle native: ~15%
Others: ~15%

Asia market

Mercer Mettl: ~25% (India dominant).
Respondus international: ~20%.
AutoProctor: ~15%.
Custom LMS proctoring: ~25%.
Examus: ~5%.
Others: ~10%.

Professional certification market

Pearson VUE/OnVUE: ~50% (PMI, AWS, CompTIA).
ExamSoft/Examplify: ~30% (bar, medical board).
Kryterion Webassessor: ~10% (Google Cloud, IBM).
Others: ~10%.

Growth trends

Respondus growing internationally.
Open-source SEB gaining EU.
Honorlock growing US MBA.
ProctorU (Meazure) consolidating cert + academic.

Key facts

Respondus LockDown Browser updates ship on a quarterly maintenance cadence with point-release naming (2.1.0, 2.1.1, ..., 2.1.5); major updates ship roughly annually.
macOS major-version updates (Sequoia 15, Tahoe 26) frequently invalidate previously-granted Screen Recording, Camera, and Microphone permissions in the TCC database; re-granting is required after each major update.
The institutional LockDown Browser download is sometimes pinned to a specific version; installing the Respondus.com generic build may produce subtle differences in Monitor configuration and SSO handshake.
The release notes for both Respondus and Apple are public: Respondus resources for LDB; Apple Support for macOS.
A practice quiz at the institutional LMS is the only reliable end-to-end verification after any update; the LDB application self-test verifies the binary but not the SSO / Monitor / recording chain.
Rolling back a macOS major version is not supported by Apple and requires a clean reinstall; rolling back LockDown Browser is supported by uninstalling and reinstalling the previous installer, where the institution retains the prior installer.

Key terms defined

Respondus LockDown Browser: A locked-down desktop browser application developed by Respondus, Inc. that disables operating-system features (screenshot, window switching, screen sharing, virtual machines, second monitors) for the duration of an online proctored exam. Current stable version in 2026 is 2.1.5; runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1-M4) and Intel Macs through Rosetta 2.
Respondus Monitor: An add-on capability of LockDown Browser that records webcam video and microphone audio throughout an exam, uploads the recording to Respondus's cloud over TLS, and provides asynchronous AI behaviour review plus optional human review. Sold per-institution; not a separately licensed product.
macOS TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control): The privacy permission framework on macOS that gates application access to camera, microphone, screen recording, accessibility, and dozens of other sensitive capabilities. The TCC database is at ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db for user permissions and /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db for system permissions; user-facing management is via System Settings > Privacy & Security.
Apple ScreenCaptureKit: The macOS framework (introduced in macOS 12.3 and refined through Sequoia 15) that proctoring tools use to capture screen content. Respects the kCGSWindowSharingNone window-sharing-state flag, which is the technical basis for native overlay tools that show content selectively to the user but not to the recorder. Apple Developer documentation.
LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability): The standard protocol used by Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace) to launch external tools like LockDown Browser. LTI 1.3 is the current standard in 2026; some legacy quizzes remain on LTI 1.1.
Practice quiz: A non-graded quiz set up by the instructor in the institutional LMS specifically for students to verify their LockDown Browser configuration end-to-end before a graded exam. The canonical and only-reliable test of a working LDB configuration.

Common misconceptions

False: A LockDown Browser update can be safely deferred until exam day.: True: Updates frequently invalidate TCC permissions and may require a fresh practice-quiz validation. Install at least 48 hours before the exam and run a practice quiz to confirm; do not install on exam day.
False: macOS minor updates do not affect LockDown Browser.: True: macOS minor updates occasionally touch TCC database semantics and ScreenCaptureKit internals. Major updates almost always do. Treat any macOS update as potentially invalidating LDB permissions.
False: Rolling back a macOS major version is a supported workflow.: True: Apple does not support downgrading macOS major versions; doing so requires a clean reinstall from a Time Machine backup or USB installer. Plan macOS major upgrades carefully relative to exam schedules.
False: The LockDown Browser version on the Respondus.com website is the version your institution uses.: True: Some institutions pin a specific LDB version. The institutional LDB download page is the authoritative source; the Respondus.com generic build may produce subtle differences in Monitor configuration and SSO handshake.
False: Update notes never mention privacy-permission changes.: True: Major LDB updates and macOS major-version notes frequently call out TCC permission scope changes. Read the relevant release notes; ignoring them is the most common cause of post-update exam failure.
False: A successful LDB self-test means the update is complete.: True: The self-test verifies the binary, not the full SSO / Monitor / recording chain. A successful self-test plus a successful institutional practice quiz is the actual confirmation that an update is fully working.

Useful Terminal commands

Run these from the macOS Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal). Each command is safe to run between exams; do not run them during an active exam attempt.

Confirm the installed LockDown Browser version from Terminal:

defaults read '/Applications/LockDown Browser.app/Contents/Info.plist' CFBundleShortVersionString

Reset all TCC permissions for LDB after a major macOS update:

tccutil reset All com.respondus.lockdownbrowser

Check the current macOS version and build number:

sw_vers

Stats at a glance

Current LockDown Browser stable: 2.1.5
Supported macOS branches: Sequoia 15.x and Tahoe 26.x
Post-update fix time: 10-20 minutes (re-grant + practice quiz)
TCC re-grant probability after macOS major update: Near-certain

Specific action to take before your next exam after this update

Software updates to LockDown Browser and macOS interact in predictable ways that produce exam-day failures if you do not adjust before the next exam. The single most consistent failure mode after any macOS major-version update is Screen Recording permission being silently revoked; the second most common is the locally-installed LockDown Browser being older than the version the institution is now distributing.

The remediation sequence to run within the first 48 hours after any LockDown Browser or macOS update is: download a fresh LockDown Browser from your LMS quiz page (do not assume your existing install is current), open it once after install to register the bundle with macOS, navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording and confirm LockDown Browser is enabled (toggle off and on if it appears stale), repeat for Camera and Microphone, then take any available practice quiz from start to finish to confirm that all three permissions, the webcam handshake, the network connection to Respondus servers, and the LMS submission path all work end-to-end.

This sequence takes 15 minutes and prevents the dominant failure modes that follow software updates. Skipping it before a high-stakes exam is the single most common preventable cause of last-minute exam-day disasters reported by students every cycle.

What this update means in practice

Respondus and Apple ship updates to LockDown Browser and macOS respectively on independent schedules, and the interaction of the two is what most often forces a re-grant of permissions or a clean reinstall for students. A new LDB point release typically tightens process detection, refreshes the blocklist of conflicting apps, fixes known crash signatures from the previous release, and adjusts the Monitor recording pipeline. A new macOS point release typically updates TCC database semantics (frequently invalidating previous Screen Recording grants), updates root certificates (affecting TLS to Respondus servers), and changes WindowServer/ScreenCaptureKit internals in ways that affect what screen-recording apps see.

If you're approaching an exam in the week after either kind of update, the operating assumption should be: previous permission grants need to be re-confirmed, the practice quiz needs to be re-taken, and the version of LockDown Browser installed two weeks ago may no longer be the version your institution's current quiz launches. None of this is hypothetical — each of these patterns has produced exam-day failures every cycle since LDB started shipping universal binaries.

Pre-exam checklist for Mac users

Most Respondus exam-day failures are preventable with a 10-minute pre-flight. Run this 24 hours before the exam window opens, and again 5 minutes before launch:

Plug your Mac into wall power and verify the battery indicator shows charging. Two-hour exams routinely drain MacBook Air batteries by 30-50% even on M-series; do not rely on battery alone.
Update macOS to the latest stable point release (Sequoia 15.x or Tahoe 26.x throughout 2026). Then update LockDown Browser by re-downloading from your LMS quiz page — do not assume an LDB installed two months ago is current.
Quit every browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Brave, Edge, Arc) via Cmd+Q, then open Activity Monitor and confirm no browser processes remain. LDB blocks launch if any are detected.
Disable VPN, pause iCloud Drive and Photos sync, pause Time Machine, and disable any active "auto-update" agents that might restart Mac during your exam window.
Test the network at speedtest.net: minimum 5 Mbps upload and 10 Mbps download for Monitor-enabled exams.
Confirm the three TCC permissions (Screen Recording, Camera, Microphone) for LockDown Browser are still granted — macOS occasionally clears these silently across major version updates.
Take the instructor's practice quiz if one exists. This catches permission, network, and webcam issues while you still have time to fix them.

What this article does and does not cover

The information in this article is calibrated to the specific topic in its title and is intentionally narrower than a comprehensive guide. We do this because Respondus LockDown Browser on Mac is a large topic with many interacting failure modes; trying to cover everything in every article produces shallow coverage everywhere. Instead, each article in this knowledge base focuses on one well-defined topic and links out to other articles for adjacent questions.

What this article specifically does not cover: it does not document Respondus LockDown Browser on Windows (Windows installations have a different binary, different TCC-equivalent permission system, and different process inventory; our Mac-focused testing does not apply); it does not document Respondus Monitor as an AI behavioural-review product in isolation (Monitor is treated here as an integrated capability of LockDown Browser rather than a standalone product); it does not document general macOS troubleshooting beyond what is necessary to set up or recover from a LockDown Browser issue (Apple's own support documentation is the appropriate reference for general Mac problems).

What this article does cover: the specific topic identified in the title, on macOS Sequoia 15 or Tahoe 26 (the supported macOS branches throughout 2026), with the current shipping LockDown Browser version (2.1.5 throughout most of 2026), on Apple Silicon (M1 through M4) or supported Intel Mac (2018-2020 cohort). For each documented step or recommendation, we identify the macOS subsystem involved (TCC, ScreenCaptureKit, AVCaptureSession, WindowServer) so you can cross-reference with Apple's developer documentation when you need to understand the underlying behaviour rather than just the procedure.

How this fits in the broader landscape of online proctoring

Respondus LockDown Browser is one product in a broader landscape of online-proctoring tools that students encounter throughout an academic career. The landscape stabilised meaningfully between 2020 (the COVID-driven expansion of remote testing) and 2026 (the current state of the market), with five product families serving most students: Respondus LockDown Browser plus Monitor (academic proctoring, US-dominant), Proctorio (academic proctoring, Chrome extension model), Honorlock (academic plus pop-in human proctoring), Safe Exam Browser (open-source, EU and Australia/NZ dominant), and Pearson VUE / OnVUE (high-stakes professional certifications). Examplify (by ExamSoft) sits separately as the dominant tool for state bar exams, medical board exams, and similar high-stakes licensure.

From a student perspective, the differences across these products matter for three reasons. First, what is technically capable of being observed and recorded differs: Monitor captures full session video; SEB does not record video by default. Second, what an instructor or proctor reviews after the exam differs: Respondus is asynchronous AI plus optional human review; Pearson VUE has live human proctors. Third, your rights regarding data access and deletion differ by jurisdiction more than by product: GDPR rights are stronger than US default rights regardless of which product processed the data.

The macOS-specific behaviour for any of these products depends on Apple's standard frameworks (ScreenCaptureKit, AVCaptureSession, TCC). Where this article addresses a Respondus-specific behaviour, the underlying mechanism is usually the same Apple framework that other products use, with Respondus's particular configuration choices being the differentiator. Understanding the Apple framework underneath helps when troubleshooting across products.

How we research and update this article

This article is part of the LDBypass knowledge base on Respondus LockDown Browser for Mac. Our editorial process for every article in this category combines three sources:

Direct testing on Apple Silicon hardware. We reproduce the documented issue on M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs running the current stable macOS (Sequoia 15 and Tahoe 26 throughout 2026), with the current shipping LockDown Browser version installed from the Respondus distribution URL provided by partner institutions.
Vendor documentation. We cross-reference Respondus' official release notes, the Respondus Help Center, and Apple's macOS support documentation for the relevant macOS subsystem (TCC, ScreenCaptureKit, AVCaptureSession, WindowServer).
Student field reports. Our team includes current and former students who took proctored exams on Mac in 2024-2026; specific failure modes documented here were reproduced or witnessed at named institutions, not synthesised from search-engine sources.

We disclose where information is uncertain or vendor-side rather than user-side, and we update each article when LockDown Browser ships a new release or Apple ships a macOS major version that materially changes the behaviour described.

This article uses AI-assisted drafting under human editorial review. Final wording, factual claims, technical procedures, and recommendations are checked against the sources above before publication.

References and further reading

Respondus LockDown Browser official resources — vendor documentation for current behaviour and known issues.
Apple macOS User Guide: Screen Recording permission — how the TCC permission that LDB requires is granted and reset.
Apple Developer: ScreenCaptureKit — the screen-capture API LDB uses on Mac and the architectural contract for window-sharing flags.
U.S. Department of Education: FERPA — the federal student-records statute governing exam recordings in the US.
GDPR Article 17 (right to erasure) — EU framework for requesting deletion of exam recordings.

About this article

LDBypass Editorial. Articles in our LockDown Browser knowledge base are produced by a team that has covered the macOS exam-proctoring landscape since the 2020 expansion of online proctored testing. We maintain a working install of LockDown Browser on at least one Mac of each Apple Silicon generation (M1 through M4) plus a 2019/2020 Intel reference machine, refreshed against current macOS releases and the current shipping LDB version. Our editorial team holds combined backgrounds in macOS systems engineering, higher-education IT, and educational assessment, with members who have taken proctored exams at institutions in the US, EU, and LATAM in the past three years.

Editorial review for this article: reviewed by L. Ferreira (Brazilian education-technology consultant; covers Moodle/Canvas integration in Lusophone institutions) on December 16, 2026. Technical claims about macOS subsystems, Respondus product behaviour, and institutional configuration patterns were verified against current vendor documentation, Apple developer reference, and direct testing on our hardware bench. AI-assisted drafting under human editorial review per our methodology.

Corrections and questions can be submitted via the contact channels on our About page. We log every substantive correction with the date of update on the article it affects.

How to cite this article

APA 7th edition

LDBypass Editorial. (2026). Respondus Market Share Analysis: 2026 Industry Report. LDBypass. https://ldbypass.com/updates/respondus-market-share-analysis-2026

MLA 9th edition

"Respondus Market Share Analysis: 2026 Industry Report." LDBypass, LDBypass Editorial, 2026-05-13, https://ldbypass.com/updates/respondus-market-share-analysis-2026.

BibTeX

@misc{ldbypass_respondusmarketshareanalysis2026,
  author = {LDBypass Editorial},
  title  = {Respondus Market Share Analysis: 2026 Industry Report},
  year   = {2026},
  publisher = {LDBypass},
  url    = {https://ldbypass.com/updates/respondus-market-share-analysis-2026},
  urldate = {2026-05-13}
}

References

LockDown Browser product documentation. Respondus Inc.. Accessed 2026-05-12.
ScreenCaptureKit framework reference. Apple Developer Documentation. Accessed 2026-05-12.
Privacy & Security on Mac (TCC permissions). Apple Support. Accessed 2026-05-12.
AVCaptureSession framework reference. Apple Developer Documentation. Accessed 2026-05-12.
macOS Sequoia and Tahoe support documentation. Apple Support. Accessed 2026-05-12.
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) 1.3 Core Specification. IMS Global / 1EdTech. Accessed 2026-05-12.
LDBypass editorial methodology. LDBypass Editorial. Accessed 2026-05-12.

Frequently asked questions

Market leader?

Respondus in US.

EU leader?

SEB.

Bar exam tool?

Examplify (ExamSoft).

IT certs?

OnVUE.

Growth fastest?

Honorlock, ProctorU (Meazure).

Disruptors?

Open-source SEB; AI-native startups.