Youtube iframe api autoplay not working

Has anyone else noticed that youtube autoplay stopped working in iOS when using jitsi meet via iframe api?

We noticed in our own deployment that youtube autoplay is not working via iframe api. We confirmed the same behaviour in meet.jit.si as well as JaaS. This is in iOS 15.0 in both Chrome and Safari, we are also using prejoin page so user gesture happens before playing the video.

Did anything change in iOS 15 that would explain this?

It’s likely something changed in iOS 15 yeah. Does it work if you hit play?

No, it’s not actually possible to click play because pointer events are disabled [probably to disable all controls].

Hum the controls should only be hidden for others, not for the one sharing…

Oh yeah, when I say the autoplay doesn’t work, I mean for other users not for the one sharing. The one sharing in our use-case is usually not using iOS to view the site.

Great. On one hand I completely understand this is out of Jitsi’s hand, on the other this breaks sharing youtube video on iOS and makes it unusable [even within JaaS].

Does anyone have any suggestion what course of action of take since this is quite an important feature for us?

If you are a regular user of YouTube, then you will probably agree that one of the handiest things about it is the fact that it has the suggested videos and autoplay features. If you’re watching a video that you like then YouTube will automatically populate a long list of other, similar videos that you may also find interesting. Once your current video has finished playing, YouTube will then automatically play the next video in this populated list if you take no action.

The autoplay feature is great for situations such as parties where may want to just pick a song that you like and then let YouTube do the rest. This ‘set and forget’ method will enable you to play your favourite genre of music for many hours without having to do so much as press a button or click a mouse.

YouTube autoplay does come with one main disadvantage though. For many people, it simply doesn’t work. There’s nothing more annoying than watching a video on YouTube, and expecting more similar videos to play afterwards, only to find that the room goes silent and that nothing happens. If autoplay is not working for you the next time you’re trying to watch videos on YouTube, then try one of the methods that follow.

Make sure that Autoplay is enabled

Regardless of all of the other settings and options that you tweak and play with, if you haven’t enabled the autoplay feature on YouTube then it simply will not work. First thing’s first, make sure that autoplay is enabled when you’re watching a video. This is simple enough to do, as the autoplay button appears on the same page as any video that you may be watching. It’s a toggle switch that is highlighted blue if autoplay is enabled, or greyed out if it is not. If the button looks grey, simply click it once and wait for it to turn blue and for a tick to appear on the switch itself.

Check for Browser Profile Corruption Issues

If you’re one of the 15% of the internet population who use Firefox then the chances are that you will also be one of the people who have problems with the YouTube autoplay feature. Fortunately it’s a fairly simple fix, that just involved getting the latest version of the browser from Mozilla, and pasting a few lines of code into the profile in the AppData folder on your computer. Doing this and then restarting your browser will usually mean that autoplay starts to work again.

Alter the URL

If none of the above solutions work to enable autoplay on your YouTube video, then this little trick probably will. In your browser’s URL field where you typed in ‘//www.youtube.com/’, simply add ‘?autoplay=1’ to the end of your video’s URL. This will set the value of the autoplay feature to ‘1’, which is translated into ‘true’ by the browser. The browser then knows to enable the autoplay feature on the video that you’re watching.

Disable AdBlock

People who are using various different internet browsers and have had problems with YouTube’s Autoplay feature in the past have found that the issue can often be resolved by disabling AdBlock. If you have AdBlock then you will find it under your browser’s add-ons or extensions, and adding YouTube as an exception will probably fix the issue so that autoplay works again. Of course the main disadvantage of this method is that you will be forced to watch the ads, and on YouTube there are a lot of them.

AutoPlay may not work on YouTube due to corrupt cache/data of the browser or corrupt installation of the YouTube mobile application. Moreover, an outdated browser or misconfiguration of your browser like DRM settings, etc. may also cause the error under discussion.

The user encounters the issue when he tries to play a video/playlist and YouTube stops [or starts repeating the first two videos of the playlist] after playing one or two videos.

For some users, the issue is that they cannot stop the AutoPlay of the videos while some encountered the issue only with playlists [not with the individual videos]. This behavior is reported to occur on nearly all the operating systems and all the web browsers. Additionally, TV apps are also affected by the AutoPlay not working issue.

Before moving on with the solutions to solve AutoPlay issues, restart your devices [phone, computers, routers, etc.] to check if the issue is a temporary glitch. Moreover, when accessing YouTube, search it through a search engine [not through the bookmark/shortcut].

Additionally, keep in mind that AutoPlay will work for 30 minutes on a mobile network and for 4 hours on a Wi-Fi to prevent long AutoPlay sessions that a user might have forgotten.

For YouTube Web:

These solutions are for YouTube accessed through desktop browsers.

Solution 1: Toggle On/Off AutoPlay And Logout of the YouTube Account

You may encounter the error at hand if the AutoPlay setting for the video is not enabled at the backend of your account even though you might have enabled it in your application. In this context, enabling [or disabling] AutoPlay in the video settings may solve the problem.

1. Launch the web browser and open the YouTube website.
2. Now open any of the videos and then enable [or disable] the AutoPlay switch located on top of the suggested videos.
   Enable AutoPlay for YouTube
3. Then click the Settings [gear icon] near the right corner of the video player and then make sure that the AutoPlay switch of the video is in the same state [enabled or disabled] as mentioned in step 3.
   Enable AutoPlay in the Video Settings
4. Now check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay issue.
5. If not, click on the profile icon [near the top right corner of the window], and then in the resulting menu, click on Sign Out.
   Sign Out of YouTube
6. Now check if you can AutoPlay videos/playlists on YouTube.

Solution 2: Clear the Cache and Data of Your Browser

Like many other applications, web browsers use a cache to improve the user experience and speed up things. AutoPlay might fail to work if the cache/data of your browser is corrupt or has bad configurations. In this context, clearing the browser’s cache/data completely may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Chrome browser. You may check if the issue occurs in the private/ incognito mode.

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu by clicking on the vertical ellipsis near the top right corner of the window.
2. Now, in the menu displayed, hover over More Tools and then in the sub-menu, click on Clear Browsing Data.
   Open Clear Browsing Data in Chrome
3. Then click on the Sign Out link at the bottom of the window.
   Sign Out of the Account Before Clearing Data and Cache
4. Now in the Advanced tab, select the Time Range of All Time [or for the time you are having the autoplay issue] and select the categories you want to clear [it is better to select all the categories].
5. Now click on the Clear Data button and then relaunch the browser.
   Clear Browsing Data in Chrome
6. Then check if the AutoPlay issue is resolved.

Solution 3: Update the Browser to the Latest Build

Browsers are updated regularly to cater to new technological advancements and patch the known bugs. You may encounter the issue under discussion if you are using an outdated version of the browser. In this context, updating the browser to the latest build may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Google Chrome browser.

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu by clicking on the horizontal ellipses [3 vertical dots near the top right corner of the window].
2. Now, in the menu displayed, click on Settings.
   Open Chrome Settings
3. Then in the left pane of the window, click on About Chrome.
4. Now, check if an update of Chrome is available, if so, then install the latest update and then relaunch the browser.
   Update Chrome
5. After updating the browser, check if the YouTube AutoPlay issue is resolved.

Solution 4: Disable Adblocking Extensions/Addons

Extensions/ addons are used to add extra functionality to the browser. However, they also might have adverse effects and you may encounter the error at hand if an extension/addon is interfering in the normal operation of YouTube. In this context, disabling extensions/add-ons [especially adblocking extensions/addons] may solve the problem. For illustration, we will discuss the process for the Chrome browser.

1. Launch the Chrome browser and then click on the icon of the Extensions [located at the right end of the address bar].
2. Now, in the menu displayed, click on Manage Extensions.
   Open Manage Extensions in Chrome
3. Then disable your adblocking extension [Adblock or Ublock Origin, etc.] by toggling its switch to the off position.
   Disable a Chrome Extension
4. Now check if AutoPlay is operating normally for YouTube. If so, then enable the adblocking extension and add YouTube in its exceptions list.
5. If the AutoPlay issue is not resolved after disabling the extension, then disable all the extensions and check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay issue. If so, then try to find the problematic extension by enabling one extension at a time, and when the problematic extension is found, either update the extension or disable it until the issue is resolved.

Solution 5: Disable DRM Settings of Your Browser

Browsers use DRM settings to protect the copyrights of digital media. AutoPlay may fail to work if the DRM settings of your browser are interfering in the routine operation of YouTube. In this scenario, disabling the DRM settings of your browser may solve the problem. For elucidation, we will go through the process for the Firefox browser.

1. Launch the Firefox browser and type the following in its address bar:about:config
2. Now click on the button to Accept the Risk and Continue.
   Accept the Risk and Continue to Open about:config Menu of Firefox
3. Then in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.eme.enabled
   Enable media.eme.enabled Firefox Preference
4. Now click on the switch to change its value to False.
5. Again, in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.gmp-widevinecdm.enabled
   Disable media.gmp-widevinecdm.enabled Firefox Preference
6. Now click on the switch to change its value to False.
7. Then check if YouTube can AutoPlay videos/playlists.
8. If not, then enable the above-said both settings and check if YouTube is clear of the AutoPlay error.

Solution 6: Remove Videos from Your Playlist

AutoPlay might also not work if you a very big playlist with a lot of videos. In this context, removing some videos from your playlist may solve the AutoPlay problem.

1. Launch the web browser and open the YouTube website.
2. Now click on the hamburger menu and then click on the Library icon.
   Open YouTube Library
3. Now navigate to your playlist and then hoover over any of the videos.
4. Then click on 3 vertical dots [ellipsis menu] on a video that you want to remove from the playlist and click on Remove from the Playlist.
   Remove Video from the Playlist
5. Repeat the process for some more videos and then check if YouTube can AutoPlay the videos.

Solution 7: Disable AutoPlay Blocking Features of the Browser

Web browsers keep on implementing different security features to safeguard its users from online threats. One such feature implemented by Firefox is blocking websites from automatically playing audio. We will discuss the process to disable the said Firefox feature. You may have to dig deeper to find out if any of the browser’s option is causing the AutoPlay issue.

1. Launch the Firefox browser and open its menu by clicking on the hamburger menu [near the top right corner].
2. Now click on Options and then in the left pane of the window, click on Privacy & Security.
3. Then in the right pane of the window, scroll down till the Permissions section.
4. Now in the permissions section, click on the Settings button in front of AutoPlay.
   Open Permissions Settings of AutoPlay of Firefox
5. Then open the drop-down box of Default for All Websites and select the option of Allow Audio and Video.
   Allow Audio and Video in Permissions Settings of AutoPlay in Firefox
6. Now check if the AutoPlay issue of YouTube is resolved.
7. If not, then type the following in the address bar of the Firefox:about:config
8. Then click the button to Accept the Risk and Continue.
9. Now in the search preference type the followingmedia.autoplay.blocking_policy
   Enable the Firefox Preference of media.autoplay.blocking_policy
10. Then in the results, click on the edit icon of the setting and then change its value to 0 [if want to disable AutoPlay] or 1 [if want to enable AutoPlay].
11. Again, in the Search Preference Name, search for the following:media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground
12. Now click on the switch to change the setting value to True [if you want to disable AutoPlay if the window is not in focus] and False [if you want to enable AutoPlay when the window is not in focus].
    Enable the Firefox Preference of media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground
13. Now check if videos/playlists can AutoPlay on YouTube.
14. If not, then try another browser to rule out any bug in the browser you are using.

For YouTube Smartphone Applications:

These are valid for both iOS and Android.

Solution 1: Disable Muted Playback Feature

Google keeps on adding new features to the YouTube application to enhance user experience. One of such features is Muted Playback. If this option is enabled, the AutoPlay sometimes doesn’t work as expected.  In this context, disabling the muted playback feature may solve the problem.

1. Launch the YouTube application and tap on the profile icon [near the top right corner of the screen].
2. Now open General and then tap on Muted Playback Feeds.
   Open Muted Playback for YouTube
3. Then tap on Off [to disable the muted playback].
   Disable Muted Playback
4. Now check if YouTube can AutoPlay the videos/playlists.

Solution 2: Uninstall Updates of the YouTube Application

Google keeps on adding new features to the YouTube application through application updates. However, buggy updates are a common issue in the application development/enhancement process and the same could be the reason for the current AutoPlay issue.

In this regard, uninstalling updates of the YouTube application may solve the problem. This method may not be available for all users. For elucidation, we will discuss the process for an Android phone.

1. Open Settings of your phone and launch Applications/Application Manager.
2. Now find and tap on YouTube.
3. Then tap on the More button [either on the bottom of the screen or on the top right corner of the screen].
4. Now tap on Uninstall Updates and then check if YouTube can AutoPlay videos/playlists.
   Uninstall Updates of YouTube

Solution 3: Reinstall the YouTube Application

You may encounter the issue at hand if the installation of the YouTube application itself is corrupt. In this context, reinstalling the YouTube application may solve the AutoPlay problem. This method may not apply to all users. For illustration, we will go through the process of the uninstallation of the YouTube application on an Android phone.

1. Open the Settings of your phone and then launch its Application Manager/Apps.
2. Now tap on YouTube and then tap on the Uninstall button.
   Uninstall the YouTube Application
3. Then restart your phone.
4. Upon restart, reinstall the YouTube application and check if the AutoPlay is working fine.

If nothing has worked for you then try if the AutoPlay issue persists on another network or another device. If the issue is still there, then try to use a YouTube extension like Stop YouTube AutoPlay or Enhancer for YouTube.