14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook announced that it brought a major update to its mobile apps and desktop version, one that brings autoplay sound for videos in your News Feed. Facebook says that the updates “make watching video on Facebook richer, more engaging and more flexible.”
Videos in the News Feed now play with sound automatically, while the sound will gradually fade out while you scroll through posts. Previously, you had to tap on a video in the News Feed in order to hear sound, but the latest update eliminates this step.
Facebook says that it has been testing the feature among users and received positive feedback, which prompted the company to make autoplay sound for videos available to all users. The feature can be turned off easily by simply switching off the “Videos in News Feed Start With Sound” option under the Settings menu, Accounts Settings, and then Sounds section on iOS.
On Android phones, the feature can be disabled by tapping on the App Settings section and then toggling off the “Videos in News Feed Start With Sound” option. Fortunately, autoplay sound is automatically turned off on phones set on silent mode.
Vertical video features on mobile
The latest update also brings changes to vertical videos, making them look better on mobile devices. In addition, you can now watch videos and also continue scrolling through the News Feed. Videos can be minimized to a picture-in-picture view and placed at the corner of the screen, while scrolling is still available.
Moreover, minimized videos can be dragged to any corner of the screen and Facebook’s Android app allows you to keep playing the video even after you exit the app. Facebook is slowly rolling out the features and they should reach all users by the end of the year.
The company also announced a new Facebook video app for TV, which will soon be made available for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV. The app would allow you to watch videos on Facebook, including shared, saved and recommended ones.