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Autoplay video not working on mobile

Your videos in a lot of browsers won't autoplay, because it is not allowed in them!

Autoplaying videos is quite a complicated issue, as many browsers are fighting against it, because it can be used to create a bad user experience. In this documentation you can see reasons and our actions towards them.

Any limitation which is about blocking the videos because they try to autoplay with sound affects the audio layer as well!

Known limitations

Older mobile devices and tablets have a limitation, that you can't autoplay videos on them, because of the common usage of mobile internet, and the memory available on them. On these devices only a user's action can start a video, so touching the play button on the video.

Some of the newer devices have the previously written limitation too, but the standard rather became, that a video can autoplay if the video is muted.

But all browsers on these devices have options to disable video autoplaying and then your video won't autoplay, not even muted.

Chrome with its latest versions also limited down videos, that they can only autoplay if the video is muted. This is just one of their limitations. The other one is, that a video can only start if the user had interaction with your website, meaning he clicked anywhere on it. Because of this we modified our code too, to start the video, if the user clicks anywhere on your page, as this is the best we could do and there are no workarounds.

See the official announcement.

Firefox automatically blocks any video which plays with sound, even on YouTube's site. Currently there's no workaround for this, so if you want your video to play automatically, it must be muted.

Lightboxes don't have muting options, so they need to be started manually by the user.

When your phone is in " Low Power Mode" then no video autoplay can be started without user interaction, even if the videos are muted.

YouTube had limited down its videos and they won't allow to autoplay them on iOS phones and tablets anymore. Also, the volume control might be missing completely regardless of your settings. [This part is coming directly from YouTube so we have zero control over it.]

Xiaomi's built in MIUI browser opens up all videos inside a popup video player, as you see for example in this video to let users do anything else on their phones while watching the given video. This behavior cannot be changed within the video's code.

All browsers have options to turn off video autoplaying, so to not allow any videos to automatically play at any circumstances. If you don't think you should have a browser/device given limitation, then it will be a setting within your browser [or within the device's settings].

☝️ Note: Browser limitations can also apply when you have a cover image on the video. In this case, it's not the actual video the user has interacted with, but an image element. The video itself is started by JavaScript codes, exactly like it would without using the cover image. Browsers currently can't always tell the difference, so the user might need to start the video.

The same goes for lightboxes. The video inside the lightbox is started using JavaScript, and the user has not interacted with the video directly yet, so the browser might prevent the autoplay.

What can you do to avoid having a not playing video on your slider?

If you are using layers, then always leave the Controls option on, so the user could start the video if he wants to. Also change their Volume to muted if you want them to autoplay where they can.

Pick a background image too. The way our system works is, that the background image will be on top and the image will disappear, if the video can start playing.

Autoplay test

Autoplaying videos has a ton of limitations and in a lot of browsers your video just won't autoplay, because the browser or device does not allows it. Here you can find:

an mp4 video
a Youtube video
and a Vimeo video

example, which have autoplay codes. If a video [or all of them] here doesn't play for you, it means your have one of the listed limitations!

How to debug why videos aren't autoplaying for you?

Check out the Autoplay test. This can show you whether you have a browser/device given limitation, or if the problem only happens on your website.
If the problem only happens on your website:
- Use the Export Slider as HTML option.
- Create a folder on your FTP, for example: /slider
- Upload the unzipped files and folders into this folder.
- In the browser, where you saw the autoplay issue, take a look at the url: //yourwebsite.com/slide
  This test can show whether your problem happens even when you are seeing the slider's codes and nothing else, or if the problem only happens on your website, due to a 3rd party code.
If the problem only happens on your website, do a theme/plugin conflict test and address the issue at the source of the problem.
If the problem happens on the HTML exported slider page too, contact us with this information:
- Send us a link to your HTML export.
- Tell us what is the operation system of your device, also what is the version number of the given operation system.
- Tell us what browser are you using [Safari, Chrome or other].

Video slider and Slider autoplay

When you create a video slider where your videos play automatically and even the slider has the autoplay enabled, you might end up with a few questions on the setup or behavior.

This problem can happen, when at the slider autoplay the Stop on media option is turned on, and you enabled the Loop at the video layer. You should either disable the loop, or turn off the Stop on media.

If the Stop on media and Resume on media is turned on at the slider autoplay the Slider autoplay pauses while the video plays. The image below can help understanding it better:

Solution

You can solve this problem in two ways:

Turn off the Stop on media at the slider autoplay
Go to your video layer and change the When ended to Go to next slide. This option is only available when the Loop is disabled!

Video doesn't look the way it should be

There are codes, which are modifying how videos can look like on websites. If you right click on your website, choose "View page source", search for the word "mejs". If you see that, you have mediaelement js in your website, and that is causing your problem. This can be added by a lot of things, but here are two common ones:

In the admin area go to the Components → Widgetkit → Media player, and change the Enable value to No.
The other possible cause is, that in the admin area go to the Extensions → Manage → Manage, where the System - WF MediaElement had to be unpublished.

Can't swipe over video, YouTube or Vimeo layer

We can either take control over the screen on the slides or not. When you put down a video, youtube or vimeo layer, it has actions on it, like pausing, playing the video either just touching the video, or it's controls, also at the controls there is the volume and other parts. To let you touch these, we have to let the video, youtube or vimeo layer to be in control, so every touching action happening over them is handled by them.

If you rather want swipe, and don't care about touching the video or just parts of it, then put down a transparent area layer over your video, and that can be swiped.

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Last updated on February 24, 2022

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AutoPlay may not work on YouTube due to corrupt cache/data of the browser or corrupt installation of the YouTube mobile application. Moreover, an outdated browser or misconfiguration of your browser like DRM settings, etc. may also cause the error under discussion.

YouTube Auto-Play

The user encounters the issue when he tries to play a video/playlist and YouTube stops [or starts repeating the first two videos of the playlist] after playing one or two videos.

For some users, the issue is that they cannot stop the AutoPlay of the videos while some encountered the issue only with playlists [not with the individual videos]. This behavior is reported to occur on nearly all the operating systems and all the web browsers. Additionally, TV apps are also affected by the AutoPlay not working issue.

Before moving on with the solutions to solve AutoPlay issues, restart your devices [phone, computers, routers, etc.] to check if the issue is a temporary glitch. Moreover, when accessing YouTube, search it through a search engine [not through the bookmark/shortcut].

Additionally, keep in mind that AutoPlay will work for 30 minutes on a mobile network and for 4 hours on a Wi-Fi to prevent long AutoPlay sessions that a user might have forgotten.

For YouTube Web:

These solutions are for YouTube accessed through desktop browsers.

Solution 1: Toggle On/Off AutoPlay And Logout of the YouTube Account

You may encounter the error at hand if the AutoPlay setting for the video is not enabled at the backend of your account even though you might have enabled it in your application. In this context, enabling [or disabling] AutoPlay in the video settings may solve the problem.

Launch the web browser and open the YouTube website.
Now open any of the videos and then enable [or disable] the AutoPlay switch located on top of the suggested videos.
Enable AutoPlay for YouTube
Then click the Settings [gear icon] near the right corner of the video player and then make sure that the AutoPlay switch of the video is in the same state [enabled or disabled] as mentioned in step 3.
Enable AutoPlay in the Video Settings
Now check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay issue.
If not, click on the profile icon [near the top right corner of the window], and then in the resulting menu, click on Sign Out.
Sign Out of YouTube
Now check if you can AutoPlay videos/playlists on YouTube.

Solution 2: Clear the Cache and Data of Your Browser

Like many other applications, web browsers use a cache to improve the user experience and speed up things. AutoPlay might fail to work if the cache/data of your browser is corrupt or has bad configurations. In this context, clearing the browser’s cache/data completely may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Chrome browser. You may check if the issue occurs in the private/ incognito mode.

Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu by clicking on the vertical ellipsis near the top right corner of the window.
Now, in the menu displayed, hover over More Tools and then in the sub-menu, click on Clear Browsing Data.
Open Clear Browsing Data in Chrome
Then click on the Sign Out link at the bottom of the window.
Sign Out of the Account Before Clearing Data and Cache
Now in the Advanced tab, select the Time Range of All Time [or for the time you are having the autoplay issue] and select the categories you want to clear [it is better to select all the categories].
Now click on the Clear Data button and then relaunch the browser.
Clear Browsing Data in Chrome
Then check if the AutoPlay issue is resolved.

Solution 3: Update the Browser to the Latest Build

Browsers are updated regularly to cater to new technological advancements and patch the known bugs. You may encounter the issue under discussion if you are using an outdated version of the browser. In this context, updating the browser to the latest build may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Google Chrome browser.

Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu by clicking on the horizontal ellipses [3 vertical dots near the top right corner of the window].
Now, in the menu displayed, click on Settings.
Open Chrome Settings
Then in the left pane of the window, click on About Chrome.
Now, check if an update of Chrome is available, if so, then install the latest update and then relaunch the browser.
Update Chrome
After updating the browser, check if the YouTube AutoPlay issue is resolved.

Solution 4: Disable Adblocking Extensions/Addons

Extensions/ addons are used to add extra functionality to the browser. However, they also might have adverse effects and you may encounter the error at hand if an extension/addon is interfering in the normal operation of YouTube. In this context, disabling extensions/add-ons [especially adblocking extensions/addons] may solve the problem. For illustration, we will discuss the process for the Chrome browser.

Launch the Chrome browser and then click on the icon of the Extensions [located at the right end of the address bar].
Now, in the menu displayed, click on Manage Extensions.
Open Manage Extensions in Chrome
Then disable your adblocking extension [Adblock or Ublock Origin, etc.] by toggling its switch to the off position.
Disable a Chrome Extension
Now check if AutoPlay is operating normally for YouTube. If so, then enable the adblocking extension and add YouTube in its exceptions list.
If the AutoPlay issue is not resolved after disabling the extension, then disable all the extensions and check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay issue. If so, then try to find the problematic extension by enabling one extension at a time, and when the problematic extension is found, either update the extension or disable it until the issue is resolved.

Solution 5: Disable DRM Settings of Your Browser

Browsers use DRM settings to protect the copyrights of digital media. AutoPlay may fail to work if the DRM settings of your browser are interfering in the routine operation of YouTube. In this scenario, disabling the DRM settings of your browser may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Firefox browser.

Launch the Firefox browser and type the following in its address bar:about:config
Now click on the button to Accept the Risk and Continue.
Accept the Risk and Continue to Open about:config Menu of Firefox
Then in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.eme.enabled
Enable media.eme.enabled Firefox Preference
Now click on the switch to change its value to False.
Again, in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.gmp-widevinecdm.enabled
Disable media.gmp-widevinecdm.enabled Firefox Preference
Now click on the switch to change its value to False.
Then check if YouTube can AutoPlay videos/playlists.
If not, then enable the above-said both settings and check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay error.

Solution 6: Remove Videos from Your Playlist

AutoPlay might also not work if you a very big playlist with a lot of videos. In this context, removing some videos from your playlist may solve the AutoPlay problem.

Launch the web browser and open the YouTube website.
Now click on the hamburger menu and then click on the Library icon.
Open YouTube Library
Now navigate to your playlist and then hoover over any of the videos.
Then click on 3 vertical dots [ellipsis menu] on a video that you want to remove from the playlist and click on Remove from the Playlist.
Remove Video from the Playlist
Repeat the process for some more videos and then check if YouTube can AutoPlay the videos.

Solution 7: Disable AutoPlay Blocking Features of the Browser

Web browsers keep on implementing different security features to safeguard its users from online threats. One such feature implemented by Firefox is blocking websites from automatically playing audio. We will discuss the process to disable the said Firefox feature. You may have to dig deeper to find out if any of the browser’s option is causing the AutoPlay issue.

Launch the Firefox browser and open its menu by clicking on the hamburger menu [near the top right corner].
Now click on Options and then in the left pane of the window, click on Privacy & Security.
Then in the right pane of the window, scroll down till the Permissions section.
Now in the permissions section, click on the Settings button in front of AutoPlay.
Open Permissions Settings of AutoPlay of Firefox
Then open the drop-down box of Default for All Websites and select the option of Allow Audio and Video.
Allow Audio and Video in Permissions Settings of AutoPlay in Firefox
Now check if the AutoPlay issue of YouTube is resolved.
If not, then type the following in the address bar of the Firefox:about:config
Then click the button to Accept the Risk and Continue.
Now in the search preference type the followingmedia.autoplay.blocking_policy
Enable the Firefox Preference of media.autoplay.blocking_policy
Then in the results, click on the edit icon of the setting and then change its value to 0 [if want to disable AutoPlay] or 1 [if want to enable AutoPlay].
Again, in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground
Now click on the switch to change the setting value to True [if you want to disable AutoPlay if the window is not in focus] and False [if you want to enable AutoPlay when the window is not in focus].
Enable the Firefox Preference of media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground
Now check if videos/playlists can AutoPlay on YouTube.
If not, then try another browser to rule out any bug in the browser you are using.

For YouTube Smartphone Applications:

These are valid for both iOS and Android.

Solution 1: Disable Muted Playback Feature

Google keeps on adding new features to the YouTube application to enhance user experience. One of such features is Muted Playback. If this option is enabled, the AutoPlay sometimes doesn’t work as expected. In this context, disabling the muted playback feature may solve the problem.

Launch the YouTube application and tap on the profile icon [near the top right corner of the screen].
Now open General and then tap on Muted Playback Feeds.
Open Muted Playback for YouTube
Then tap on Off [to disable the muted playback].
Disable Muted Playback
Now check if YouTube can AutoPlay the videos/playlists.

Solution 2: Uninstall Updates of the YouTube Application

Google keeps on adding new features to the YouTube application through application updates. However, buggy updates are a common issue in the application development/enhancement process and the same could be the reason for the current AutoPlay issue.

In this regard, uninstalling updates of the YouTube application may solve the problem. This method may not be available for all users. For elucidation, we will discuss the process for an Android phone.

Open Settings of your phone and launch Applications/Application Manager.
Now find and tap on YouTube.
Then tap on the More button [either on the bottom of the screen or on the top right corner of the screen].
Now tap on Uninstall Updates and then check if YouTube can AutoPlay videos/playlists.
Uninstall Updates of YouTube

Solution 3: Reinstall the YouTube Application

You may encounter the issue at hand if the installation of the YouTube application itself is corrupt. In this context, reinstalling the YouTube application may solve the AutoPlay problem. This method may not apply to all users. For illustration, we will go through the process of the uninstallation of the YouTube application on an Android phone.

Open the Settings of your phone and then launch its Application Manager/Apps.
Now tap on YouTube and then tap on the Uninstall button.
Uninstall the YouTube Application
Then restart your phone.
Upon restart, reinstall the YouTube application and check if the AutoPlay is working fine.

If nothing has worked for you then try if the AutoPlay issue persists on another network or another device. If the issue is still there, then try to use a YouTube extension like Stop YouTube AutoPlay or Enhancer for YouTube.