HTML5 Video: How to enable *non-muted* autoplay in Chrome for Android

6
votes

I am working on a simple solution for a local museum that wants visitors to interact with informative videos installed on tablets. The videos are simply embedded on simple HTML5 pages and are supposed to autoplay upon page load.

However, in their infinite wisdom, Google has apparently decided not to enable autoplay on Chrome for Android if the video is not muted. Their reasoning is apparently that it is resource/bandwith costly and "users" (who?) did not like it.

In other words: It will work on Chrome desktop versions and such, but when you have not added the keyword "muted" to the tag, it will not autoplay on an Android device.

So this works: 

 <video id="player" class="player" controls autoplay muted>

But not this: 

 <video id="player" class="player" controls autoplay>

The reason I am stuck with Chrome, is because I want to run the webpages as an app/shortcut on the homescreen, so as to get rid of the Chrome interface bar with all the tabs and stuff.

So the question is whether there is a setting on the tablet or some other trick to enable non-muted autoplay, so I can get this to work. Or is it possible to let Firefox be used for urls placed on the homescreen (or some other way to get rid of the top interface bar).

2
androidhtmlgoogle-chromefirefoxvideo
autoplay ads with audio is just an advertising nightmare waiting to happen. to solve the problem... easiest way would be to build a container app and use that to show the video (you have options there to avoid need for a user interaction) – Offbeatmammal
Thanks, but how is this an "advertising nightmare waiting to happen"? This is needed just for running a bunch of static html pages on standalone device whose only purpose is running those particular pages. Advertisements will never get involved. At least Google could have been not less arrogant and allow users to opt-out themselves for whatever particular reason. Mozilla does this. – Fedor Alexander Steeman
your scenario isn't necessarily a problem, but allowing autoplaying, unmuted, bandwidth hogging (especially for metered/capped users) video is something advertisers would be unable to resist. Looks like Surefox gives you a similar controllable container/kiosk so the content abuse issue is moot – Offbeatmammal
Well, of course I understand the general rationale, but I don't understand not giving users the option of opting out of this setting if necessary, like in my case, and like how Mozilla did. Actually I had no idea what was going on until I finally stumbled upon it with online searches. – Fedor Alexander Steeman
if you want to do it for a device you control then you can. navigate to chrome://flags and set gesture requirement for media playback (about three or four pages down the list) to disabled – Offbeatmammal

2 Answers

6
votes

If you want to do it for a device you control then you can (though obviously it's not something you can easily get users to do for their devices as it applies browser wide, not site specific).

Navigate to chrome://flags and set gesture requirement for media playback (about three or four pages down the list) to disabled

2
votes

I swapped out Chrome with Firefox, because Mozilla is not quite as overbearing. I tried several different add-ons for making it go fullscreen, with some initial success, but kept on running into quirks.

Then I found a solution in the form of an app that serves webpages in "kiosk mode", blocking visitors from interfering with the system and going full screen without any navigation or other bars. It is apparently based on Mozilla browser technology and called "Surefox". It is highly customizable and does EXACTLY what I need. It costs a little, but I reckon well worth the cost.

You can learn more on their website: https://www.42gears.com/products/surefox-secure-browser/surefox-android/