Troubleshooting

When something is wrong, the window says Needs your attention and explains what happened. Find the message or symptom below.

Nametags isn’t in my meeting app’s camera list

1. Restart the meeting app. Most apps only look for cameras when they start. For a meeting in a browser, reload the tab.
2. Check the setup. The Nametags window should show Ready for your next call, not the setup steps. If Add Nametags as a camera isn’t ticked, finish it. See Installing on a Mac.
3. If you’ve just approved the extension, quit Nametags from the menu bar icon and open it again.

“Approve the camera extension in System Settings”

macOS is waiting for you to allow the camera. Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions, find Nametags, and turn it on. Nametags notices within a few seconds.

“Move Nametags to your Applications folder”

macOS only installs camera extensions for apps in the Applications folder. Quit Nametags, drag it into Applications, and open it from there. If you opened it straight from the disk image, eject the disk image first.

“Camera access is turned off for Nametags”

Click Open Privacy settings, turn on Nametags under Privacy & Security → Camera, and go back to Nametags.

If Nametags was allowed before but now isn’t, macOS sometimes forgets the permission after the app is replaced. Quit Nametags, run this in Terminal, and open Nametags again. It will ask for the camera again.

tccutil reset Camera nerdev.com.nametags

“…is in use by another app”

Another app has taken your camera and won’t share it. Close the other app, or switch it to a different camera. Meeting apps should use the Nametags camera rather than your real one, so they don’t fight over it.

“Camera opened but is not sending frames”

The camera connected but no picture is arriving. Check that an external camera is plugged in and powered on, or pick a different camera under Advanced → Camera.

“Nametags updated its camera” or “Restart your Mac to finish updating the camera”

An update brought a new version of the Nametags camera. Click Restart Nametags. If the camera is still missing after that, restart your Mac. See Updates.

If the Nametags camera is still missing after a restart, click Reinstall camera extension.

My call shows a card instead of my video

• “Nametags isn’t running”, or a card with your name on it: Nametags is closed. Open it.
• A still card while Nametags is open: Nametags is paused. Turn it back on with the switch at the top of the window.

The background blur stopped

If blurring your background fails, Nametags keeps sending your video without the blur rather than cutting it off. Turn Blur my background off and on again under Advanced. Versions before 0.3.5 could lose the blur after about fifteen minutes on a call, so update if you’re on an older version.

“Your session expired”

Click Sign in. Your tag keeps working in the meantime, but you can’t save changes to it until you sign in again.

Still stuck?

Contact support and include your log file. Nametags writes its log to:

~/Library/Logs/nerdev.com.nametags/

In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… and paste that path. The log doesn’t contain your video.