Autoplay audio can be annoying or convenient depending on the situation. Luckily Instagram has found a happy medium between defaulting autoplay video sound on or off.<\/p>\n
This weekend TechCrunch spotted that some Instagram videos in the feed were autoplaying with audio. Now Instagram has confirmed to us \u201cthis new update rolled out recently\u201d and here\u2019s how it works for all organic videos and ads.<\/p>\n
When you open Instagram, videos will still autoplay with the sound off. But if you tap to turn one video\u2019s sound on, indicated with a speaker icon in the bottom left, all other videos will autoplay with sound too for the rest of your Instagram session. You can still tap to toggle a video and all subsequent ones back to silent. And when you close the app, the autoplay audio resets to off for next time you use Instagram.<\/p>\n
So basically, Instagram still defaults to audio off when opened, but applies your last toggle on or off for the rest of your session.<\/p>\n
This is a smart compromise. If you\u2019re home alone or have headphones on, and you turn on a video\u2019s sound, it\u2019s safe for Instagram to assume it can play more videos with audio without disturbing anyone. But next time you open the app, if you\u2019re in public or somewhere quiet without headphones, it won\u2019t embarrass you.<\/p>\n
Instagram admits that previously having to turn on video audio for each video individually could be frustrating.<\/p>\n
Instagram Stories videos will still adhere to your device\u2019s settings, only playing with sound if it\u2019s unmuted. But that makes sense since you can assume you\u2019ll see video in these Snapchat clone-style slideshows.<\/p>\n
Facebook experienced backlash earlier this year when it announced it would be moving from\u00a0silent autoplay video to going by you\u2019re device\u2019s current mute status. That roll out has moved slowly, though, signaling that Facebook understands that sound could surprise some users.<\/p>\n
Instagram\u2019s move could be a boon to businesses and advertisers, who will see more of their videos play with sound now. That makes Instagram more akin to television or Snapchat where sound always plays, and could boost spend on its video ads.<\/p>\n
Video is clearly becoming a larger and larger focus for Instagram. Launched in 2013 as an add-on to the photo sharing network, video has grown in popularity as cameras, screens, and mobile networks improve. While Instagram doesn\u2019t want to annoy it\u2019s users, it can\u2019t be a social network of the future if it stays silent.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: The Verge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Autoplay audio can be annoying or convenient depending on the situation. Luckily Instagram has found a happy medium between defaulting autoplay video sound on or off. This weekend TechCrunch spotted that some Instagram videos in the feed were autoplaying with audio. Now Instagram has confirmed to us \u201cthis new update rolled out recently\u201d and here\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[5928,284],"yoast_head":"\n