A Chrome update that tried to kill off autoplaying video content on websites had an unpleasant side-effect: it broke a wide range of apps and games, according to reports from users and developers. Google has reportedly issued a partial fix.
The update was rolled out in April with the purpose of blocking loud media content that is being played automatically on some websites. However, the blocking feature nixed several apps and games in the meantime.
The feature is reportedly barring apps and interactive art from playing audio notifications and other elements. Google’s Chrome team recently said that it has updated the mobile web browser to temporarily put on hold the autoplay policy for the apps, games, and RTC features using the Web Audio API.
The change was made to allow devs to update their products’ codes. The policy will be back with Chrome 70 in October 2018.
Just a Temporary Fix
However, not all developers hailed the decision. Developer Benji Kay, who specializes in audio tools and games for the web, explained that postponing the policy will not fix the many issues that have appeared. Kay added that in October, any piece of software that uses audio output and no longer receives updates will be broken.
The Chrome team said that the changes will not impact the web browser’s new feature of silencing Internet videos and audio that have an autoplay feature. It is unclear if websites will abuse the recently-opened loophole and if developers will find a workaround to prevent their games and apps from being silenced as well.
The autoplay-video blocker is designed to fix one of the greatest problems of the Internet: autoplaying videos on websites. This pesky content is one of the main reasons many Internet users have installed adblockers in their web browsers. Google wants adblockers gone because advertising is its main source of revenue.
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