Chrome 64 beta tries to address auto-playing video but disappoints

Google is currently rolling out Chrome 63, with Chrome 64 in the beta channel. One of the main features of the new browser version is to address auto-playing video, a laudable goal particularly for those who browse news websites a lot.

Unfortunately, it turns out it does this by allowing users to mute all sound from a website as one of its permissions.

Engadget writes:

The autoplay-muting setting is located in the beta version’s permissions bar, which can be accessed from the icons next to the URL (either an ‘i’ for info or a green padlock), notes 9to5Google. You’ll have to do this with each and every website, but it should still block sound when navigating to other pages within the site.

This, of course, fails to address the slowdown and fan speed spin up caused by video suddenly playing unprompted. Muting sound on my PC is actually its default state – it’s the resource suck from playing video unexpectedly which is the much more pressing problem.

I suspect the reason Google is not addressing this issue properly is because many ads are currently auto-playing video, and a full solution would also shut these down – bad for the biggest ad company in the world of course.

The beta also includes a better pop-up blocker, better protection against automatic redirects and an HDR video player for Windows 10 users in HDR mode.

Users who desperately want to mute the sound on their PC (there’s usually a button for that already) can find the browser at Google here.

Via Engadget.com

Some links in the article may not be viewable as you are using an AdBlocker. Please add us to your whitelist to enable the website to function properly.