How do I stop videos from automatically playing on my Iphone?

When youre browsing the web via Safari on your Mac or iOS device and a pop-up video or any other audio/visual content starts playing automatically, it can be quite annoying.

Not only can it be jarring and make reading a webpage more difficult, but the content can also play at the wrong moment during a business meeting, for example. Fortunately for all Mac and iOS device users, you can disable this feature and forget about dealing with this issue.

In this article, well guide you through the process of turning off the autoplay videos feature in Safari and answer several common questions related to the action.

How to Stop Autoplay Videos in Safari on Mac

If youre a Mac user who has Safari as their primary browser, youll be pleased to know that Apple has made it possible to manage the autoplay video feature and set it to your preferences.

Theres a caveat, though. Only users of macOS Mojave 10.14 and more recent operating systems have access to the settings that well be explaining below. Heres what you need to do to stop autoplay videos in Safari on Mac:

1. Open any website in the browser, then select Safari in the main toolbar at the top of the screen.
   
   
2. Select Preferences, then switch to the Websites tab in the new window.
   
   
3. On the panel on the left, select Auto-Play.
   
   
4. Finally, select Never Auto-Play under the Currently Open Websites section.
   
   

Keep in mind that these steps will stop autoplay for the opened website only. To stop autoplay on all websites, heres what you need to do:

1. Open Safari, then follow the Safari>Preference>Websites path.
   
   
2. In the Auto-Play section, find the When visiting other websites option at the bottom of the pop-up window.
   
   
3. Select Never Auto-Play.
   
   

Now you know how to disable autoplay for only one website or all of them. However, you can also stop autoplay for specific websites in Safari as well. To do that, open the websites in separate tabs in Safari and set the autoplay video preferences for each.

The list of the websites with disabled autoplay will appear under the Configured Websites section in the Auto-Play menu. However, if your preferences already prevent autoplay on all websites, youll need to disable it first.

Another Way to Stop Autoplay Video in Safari on Mac

There is a shortcut to stop the autoplay video feature on Safari on Mac that can come in handy from time to time. Its especially useful when you know youre entering a website that typically has audiovisual content that will start immediately. Heres how it works:

1. Open the website in Safari and then right-click on the address bar.
   
   
2. From the drop-down menu, select Settings for This Website.
   
   
3. Next to Auto-Play, select Never Auto-Play.
   
   

You can also choose to Stop Media with Sound, which means Safari will stop automatically playing videos that have sound. However, videos without sound will continue to play.

This option is useful when visiting a website youve previously never visited before, and you havent disabled autoplay for all websites.

How to Stop Autoplay Videos in Safari on the iPhone

Approximately half of all internet searches start on a mobile device. And since Safari is the default iPhone browser, it makes sense that many users rely on it for their browsing activity while on the go.

This also means that if youve opened a webpage in Safari on iPhone and the audio portion of a video starts blasting right away (on public transportation, for example), that could be quite embarrassing.

Because you never know what youll come across when hopping from a new website to another new website on Safari, you can completely disable the feature.

Follow these steps to stop autoplay in Safari on iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
   
   
2. Tap on Accessibility.
   
   
3. Then, tap on Motions and then Auto-Play Video Previews.
   
   

Thats all there is to it. However, its important to point out that by disabling this feature, you wont be able to see video previews for any native iPhone app either.

That means you wont see previews of videos in your camera roll, for example. It also means that if youre using a third-party app (such as Chrome) for browsing, this setting wont apply.

Another way to disable autoplay on iPhone is to go to iTunes & App Store, then Settings, and turn off the Video Autoplay option. Unfortunately, this will in no way affect the autoplay feature in Safari.

How to Stop Autoplay Videos in Safari on iPad

For some users, browsing on Safari is much more convenient on an iPad. But those videos that start playing automatically can bother you, nonetheless.

To stop the autoplay in Safari on iPad, youll also need to go to Accessibility settings, the same as with iPhone. So, lets guide you through the steps one more time:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Select Accessibility and then Motions.
3. There, make sure to turn off the Auto-Play Video Previews option.

Additional FAQs

1. Will This Stop Auto-Playing Videos on ESPN, Facebook, and the Daily Mail?

If you disable the Auto-Play Video Previews on your iPhone or iPad, it will stop all videos from auto-playing on any website, as long as youre using Safari.

On mobile devices, however, you cant pick and choose which website you want to block from using the autoplay feature. But if youre using a Mac laptop or desktop, you can prevent specific websites from forcing videos to start automatically playing.

So, if you want to stop ESPN, Facebook, and Daily Mail videos from automatically playing, you must open each of the websites in separate tabs and follow these steps to stop them from auto-playing:

Go to Safari>Preferences and then switch to the Websites tab.

Under Currently Open Websites for each website listed, select Never Auto-Play.

Alternatively, right-click on each of the websites address bar and choose Never Auto-Play next to the Auto-Play option.

2. Does Auto-Play Slow Down Your Apple Device?

The speed at which a page loads depends on many things: your internet connection, whether the site is mobile-optimized, how old your device is, etc.

However, the embedded video that plays automatically on a webpage can also impact how fast the page loads. It might be an insignificant difference in some instances.

Its relevant to point out that if you need to spend time muting the video or pausing it while youre trying to read the page, the autoplay option slows down the browsing experience.

Watching Only the Videos You Want

The autoplay video feature is a somewhat divisive issue among users. It has its benefits as it can quickly lead you through content and introduce something that you might be interested in learning more about.

However, it can also seem quite intrusive at times, and plenty of people would rather not be startled by a video playing immediately as they open a website. News websites, in particular, use this tactic to keep page visitors engaged. Fortunately, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users have a way of preventing that while they browse with Safari.

Do you prefer the autoplay feature on or off? Let us know in the comments section below.