Cowinx

Pre-flight check

You know how a session works. This is the last gate before a permitted interview — five minutes to confirm what your shared screen shows, that audio is captured, and that language settings are correct. Run it the day before, then again right before the call.

Verify, never assume

No setting and no marketing copy can replace seeing it yourself. Always confirm your screen-share view from a second device before you rely on it.

1. Check screen-share privacy

The most important check is seeing the outgoing share from another device. Your phone is fine — the goal is to confirm exactly what viewers receive from the meeting app.

  1. Open the same conferencing app you plan to use for the practice or permitted session (Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex).
  2. Start a meeting with yourself — no other participants needed.
  3. Join that same meeting from a second device, or record the share, so you can watch the outgoing screen.
  4. Click Share Screen and share what you plan to share in the real call.
  5. On the second device, confirm the shared view contains only the window or screen you intended to share.
  6. Confirm Cowinx is responsive and not adding distracting pop-ups or focus changes.

Platform-specific share settings (the Zoom capture mode in particular) live in Meeting platforms. If your test shows the Cowinx workspace in the shared view, stop and fix the share settings before continuing.

2. Verify Cowinx captures meeting audio

A silent transcript during a session is the second most common failure. Confirm the audio path before it matters.

  1. Start a Cowinx session.
  2. Play any speech through the same output device the meeting will use — a video, a voice memo, anyone talking.
  3. Watch the transcript fill in within a second or two.
  4. If it stays empty, confirm Microphone and Screen & System Audio Recording are granted, then quit and reopen Cowinx. Full steps in Troubleshooting.

3. Set language & rehearse hotkeys

Two small things that ruin a call if you discover them live.

  • In Settings → Meeting, set Meeting Language to the spoken prompt language, and Coding Language to your preferred language for code notes. If the session is in another language, set Translate To — see Translation & language.
  • Rehearse the two hotkeys you'll actually use under pressure: ⌥⏎ to solve and ⌥S to screenshot. Muscle memory beats hunting for a key mid-question.
  • Position the control bar where you want it now with ⌘⇧ + arrow keys, and confirm ⌥H hides it.

What this check does not prove

Passing the pre-flight means it worked in your test, on today's software. It is not a permanent guarantee:

  • An OS, meeting-app, or assessment-platform update can change capture behavior — re-test after any update.
  • Opening unrelated windows, notifications, or Cowinx settings during the call can still reveal activity.
  • Company, school, interview, exam, and platform rules still apply. Do not use Cowinx where outside assistance is prohibited.

For how screen-share privacy works and what we do and don't store, read Screen-share privacy.