Firefox will finally mute autoplaying videos courtesy of new update
While Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Apple’s Safari already have the option to mute sound on sites that feature autoplay videos, Firefox has been slow to follow suit, but it’s finally coming.
Mozilla promised to add the feature when it chalked up its product roadmap earlier this year, stating, "Firefox will provide users with a way to block video auto-play that doesn't break websites."
Now the internet company has added an experimental feature in the latest version of the Firefox Nightly Edition (version 63.0a1) – Mozilla's "unstable testing and development platform" – which gives users control over whether they want to hear sound on an autoplaying video when a site loads.
The new feature appears as a pop-up notification under the address bar, but only if a site plays the audio immediately after loading. The notification will not be displayed if sites have audio elements which can only be triggered if a user clicks on the play button.
And there’s more…
The new feature is accompanied by a change in Firefox’s browser settings section. Users who prefer to use the new mute can choose to block all autoplaying media, or choose to receive the pop-up notification for individual websites. If autoplay is something that doesn’t bother you, though, you can choose to let the media function as it was intended.
While autoplaying ads have long been muted on Firefox, it’s a relief to know that entire sites can soon be silenced as well.
Although it’s still in the experimental stages, the integration of the new mute option seems to be running on schedule and all Firefox users should be able to take advantage of it when version 63 launches as the end of October.
