Google Chrome now automutes autoplay

Tired of autoplay videos? Google is about to ship an update to the Chrome browser that automatically disables autoplay videos on sites.

Autoplay video is a feature on websites, particular news sites (coughs in the general direction of Cnet and CNN) that trigger a video when you navigate to the site. Irrespective of whether the user actually decided to play to a video, or they were just reading an article. It is distracting, irritating, and annoying for consumers, and Google has decided to do something about that.

This won’t be a blanket ban, if the user manually clicks on the video then Google will allow audio to play. Likewise, if the website has been added to their home screen on the desktop or mobile. The firm will, of course, allow you to blanket ban sites should you so desire, so the power still ultimately lies in the users hands.

The new update will ship with Chrome OS version and should reach all PCs running Chrome in the h next few days.

While Edge for Windows 10 doesn’t have ac comparable feature yet, the update will have the feature to let Edge users mute sites when it rolls out sometime in the next century.

Is autoplay the bane of your online existence? Let us know in the comments below.

Via TechCrunch.