Google Chrome to Start Blocking Autoplaying Web Videos

Apple’s Safari web browser features some great auto-play blocking tools, which allow users to to mute auto-playing media with sound or block auto-playing media entirely on specific sites or on the Internet as a whole. Today, Google has also announced the starting with Chrome 64, which is currently slated for a January 2018 release, auto-play will only be allowed when the video in question is muted.

In addition to videos that won’t play sound, Google says videos will only be allowed to autoplay if the “user has indicated an interest in the media”. A new option is also being added to Chrome 63, that allows users to completely disable audio for individual sites. This site muting option will persist between browsing sessions, allowing users to customize when and where audio will play.

“This will allow autoplay to occur when users want media to play, and respect users’ wishes when they don’t. These changes will also unify desktop and mobile web behavior, making web media development more predictable across platforms and browsers.

These changes will give users greater control over media playing in their browser, while making it easier for publishers to implement autoplay where it benefits the user”.

To learn more, check out Google’s autoplay roadmap.