It turns out that it broke lots and lots of services

May 16, 2018 05:35 GMT  ·  By

Google has decided to suspend the autoplay policy that was implemented for audio and video content until developers from around the world catch up.

One of the best news for Google Chrome users was that the browser was finally drawing the line when it comes to videos and audio content that starts on its own when opening a new tab. In fact, it would be difficult to find anything wrong with that decision, if you’re not one of the websites affected by the problem.

Well, it turns out that Google used a very large hammer to solve a delicate problem, and the result was obvious. They manage to break a ton of services and other websites that relied on that function to work, and that didn’t necessarily bother the users.

Rolling back is temporary

Following the outcry stemming from developers all over the world, Google decided that it’s going to roll back the autoplay policy, but it’s only a temporary measure. They are not going to drop it or soften it, they are going to give everyone time to adjust the code.

“We’re doing this to give Web Audio API developers (e.g. gaming, audio applications, some RTC features) more time to update their code. The team here is working hard to improve things for users and developers, but in this case we didn’t do a good job of communicating the impact of the new autoplay policy to developers using the Web Audio API,” a Google developer explained on the official mailing list.

The policy will be reinstated with Google Chrome 70, which is scheduled to be released in October, so it should be more than enough time for people to make the necessary changes. In the meantime, we’re going to have to endure the autoplay abuse from some websites just a little bit longer.