Facebook videos now auto-play on mobile and it could look a lot more like TV in the near future. Facebook tested the auto-play for native videos in September, and we might as well expect video ads soon.
Any uploaded or shared video on Facebook would appear locked behind a play button currently. It used to have some uneasy steps involving the decision to stop scrolling, open the video player, wait for it to load, and watch. While it may seem like it's not a big deal, it may have been too much of a time and effort for some.
If people don't watch videos, they don't get likes and comments that encourage friends to upload more, and they might skip uploading them themselves.
The folks at Techcrunch spotted an auto-play video in their feed last week, and after asking Facebook, the company confirms the new format is now internationally rolled out to most iOS and Android users and will reach all of them soon.
Some might say this can get a little distracting and displeasing to the eye, but if you don't want to watch, you can scroll by with little disruption. There is no sound playing that's going to annoy you and the people around you.
Lastly, since pre-caching the video data is burning a hole in 3G/4G data in some users, Facebook has added a setting that lets you only auto-play videos if you're in WiFi and not on cellular data. It's found in your phone's Facebook settings on iOS and the Facebook app's settings on Android.
Image Source:
Techcrunch
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