F5.5G Leap-forward Development of Broadband in Africa The Africa Broadband Forum 2024 (BBAF 2024) was successfully held in Cape Town, South Africa recently, under…
Facebook videos will now autoplay on your phone with sound
Facebook announced yesterday that it will roll out a feature that plays sound on videos whenever a phone’s sound is on.
“People are watching and sharing more video on Facebook than ever, and we’re focused on continuously improving the video experience,” the statement read.
In the future, when a user is scrolling their feed with sound on, the sound for videos will fade in and out. They do not specify how long the video will be on screen before the sound will play. To keep sound off, users will have to keep their phones on silent, or disable the setting within the Account/App Settings on your Facebook app.
Along with this feature, the company also mentioned features affecting vertical and minimised videos. Vertical videos have been enlarged to look better on phone screens, and videos will now minimise to allow users to watch and scroll like on YouTube.
Facebook’s video push now includes apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Samsung TVs, as well as a revamped mobile video experience
Also like YouTube, the Menlo Park company will begin to rollout standalone TV apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung’s Smart TVs. This push comes after it hired MTV executive Mina Lefevre as Head of Development, gearing up to produce original content for the platform.
As Facebook looks to compete with Netflix and Amazon, its upper-hand could come from its monetisation methods. If Facebook is able to offer a free service, keeping afloat with ad revenue, the company may be able to shake up the industry entirely.