Is there a browser that allows stopping auto-play of videos?

[euro]

I have been using the Chrome browser for quite some time because it has suited my needs regarding speed, memory usage, etc.
As I prefer reading over watching videos, I seldom want to watch the ever more ubiquitous video clips that auto-play on many websites. Chrome used to provide a preferences setting to “stop auto play”, but apparently, that has changed and they ditched that option.
Are there any browsers that still allow blocking auto play (we are mostly a Mac OS household)? I know I can just click the video stream to stop it or simply reduce the volume to zero, but I find that tedious and would like to have a better option. Suggestions?

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Safari allows this (Safari>Preferences>Websites>Auto-Play). If you're using Mac OS then I presume you haven't been using Safari in favor of Chrome?

 

[mitchjav]

There's an extension called "Video Autoplay Blocker" for MS Edge (and I believe for Chrome as well)

 

[bobandsherry]

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-autoplay-videos-on-sites-in-google-chrome/

 

[OldShooter]

Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-autoplay

 

[euro]

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-autoplay-videos-on-sites-in-google-chrome/

Thanks for this - I followed the links but for some reason, was not offered the same "choices" by the Chrome preferences as those described in the instructions. So, sadly, it was a dead end for me. I even updated my Chrome browser to the latest version - no go.

Well, I'm going to switch to Safari. It's a bit of a pain to get everything set up again but more of a temporary problem than the annoying autoplay videos

 

[USGrant1962]

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/disable-autoplay-videos-on-sites-in-google-chrome/

This article from 2019 doesn't seem to work any more for PC. No autoplay anything under flags, google tells me it was removed two years ago.

 

[W2R]

Microsoft Edge (my browser), and several other browsers have a feature called "Reader View". If you look at a page in Reader View, videos don't auto-play and you don't get popups and so on. Maybe that would help?

 

[ownyourfuture]

Safari allows this (Safari>Preferences>Websites>Auto-Play). If you're using Mac OS then I presume you haven't been using Safari in favor of Chrome?

Thanks for this.

 

[Maximus]

Thanks for this.

Don’t see this on my iPad. Is this just on Macs or should I look for something else on the iPad?

 

[ownyourfuture]

Don’t see this on my iPad. Is this just on Macs or should I look for something else on the iPad?

I don't have an iPad, so I couldn't tell you.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

After some Googling I was a bit surprised that it appears this isn't a built-in option in iPadOS. I guess I'm so used to switching to reader mode when web sites become annoying that I never noticed.

 

[CaptTom]

There is a bit of an arms race going on here. Browser developers are always implementing new "features" which give their customers - ad-supported web sites - more ways to try to grab your attention. They do offer settings to disable some older features, but the latest way to blast something at you is rarely blockable via settings.

This creates a market for add-ons and extensions which block the newer methods. For example, in Chrome I've had good luck with an extension called "Disable HTML5 Autoplay." In conjunction with Ghostery and uBlock Origin it keeps most of the crap at bay. But I've noticed more and more getting through lately. No doubt there will be another extension at some point which blocks whatever new "feature" these are using.

 

[Dash man]

You might try the Brave browser. It’s Chrome based but designed for more privacy.

https://brave.com/

 

[GTFan]

Yep, I use Brave with the Autoplay Stopper extension. Works great, stops all the HTML5 video.

 

[Reach]

Thanks for this - I followed the links but for some reason, was not offered the same "choices" by the Chrome preferences as those described in the instructions. So, sadly, it was a dead end for me. I even updated my Chrome browser to the latest version - no go.

Well, I'm going to switch to Safari. It's a bit of a pain to get everything set up again but more of a temporary problem than the annoying autoplay videos

That link has an update stating "Update 7/26/2018: Google has updated the desktop version of Chrome several times since this article was written and the option for the desktop browser no longer seems to work. You can always try out third-party extensions with varying degrees of success. However, blocking autoplay videos for Chrome on Android does seem to still work for most sites."


Regarding original post... I ran into the same problem with Chrome when I upgraded to new MacBook and Chrome version in the fall of 2020. Did some research at the time and learned that that the ability to disable autoplay was removed by Google.

I hate autoplay and rarely if ever watch videos, to save on data usage for one thing, and prefer reading like the OP stated.

Switched to Safari for this reason. Google Chrome has gotten this one wrong IMO.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Edit: Nope. Solution that I thought would work, didn't.

 

[Koogie]

Yep, I use Brave with the Autoplay Stopper extension. Works great, stops all the HTML5 video.

+1

I've gotten used to the Brave browser (it is 90% the same as Chrome) and prefer it across all platforms now.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

+1

I've gotten used to the Brave browser (it is 90% the same as Chrome) and prefer it across all platforms now.

Will it use the saved passwords from Chrome? I have been using the auto generation PW creator in Chrome and they are all very long and complex...no way I could copy them all down.

 

[ejman]

Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/block-autoplay

+1 I find Firefox to be a really good browser for privacy and to prevent unwanted intrusions. I don't know how or if it works on Apple products. It works beautifully in Windows, Linux and Android.

 

[CaptTom]

Will it use the saved passwords from Chrome? I have been using the auto generation PW creator in Chrome and they are all very long and complex...no way I could copy them all down.

It's not well documented, but you can export the saved "Autofill" passwords from within Chrome settings. There's a pretty good write-up here:

https://techblogcorner.com/2020/12/...chrome/#1-how-to-export-passwords-from-chrome

 

[GTFan]

Will it use the saved passwords from Chrome? I have been using the auto generation PW creator in Chrome and they are all very long and complex...no way I could copy them all down.

Yes Brave can import pw's from Chrome, along with all the other stuff you'll want. The built-in adblock works pretty well and I also use DuckDuckGo instead of Google for search to minimize tracking.

 

[mpeirce]

After some Googling I was a bit surprised that it appears this isn't a built-in option in iPadOS. I guess I'm so used to switching to reader mode when web sites become annoying that I never noticed.

iPad Safari does have reader mode. It's bit buried under a menu. Look at the AA on the left of the address bar, tap that and you'll see a menu that have a few different options including Show Reader View.

Sometime the reader mode shown by having a document icon in the

Not every web page can use reader mode, but most do when you'd want it to.

 

[target2019]

Brave is a good substitute for Chrome. I've been experimenting with the Profiles feature. I use it to set up a Financial browser profile. When I open that profile it has only extensions I've enabled, and the bookmarks I need for that session. Your other profile(s) can stay open. It's helped me organize browser windows and tabs.

 

[homestead]

I switched from Mac Firefox to Safari. Love that it blocks videos starting. Was able to move all my bookmarks across and configure the favorites across the top just like firefox.
Safari also protects all your logins/passwords with the same password as your computer.