Microsoft Edge may soon block one of the worst things about the internet
Say goodbye to auto-playing videos
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Microsoft Edgemay be about to win a lot of fans by introducing a new feature that it says could prevent one of the most annoying things about being online.
A new update to thebrowsersuggests it is looking at a way to block auto-playing videos by default when a user navigates to a website.
Techdows spotted a new entry to theMicrosoftEdge Canary browser where the company tries out its in-progress updates, that suggests auto-playing videos may have had their day at last.
Blocked
The new addition, for Mac, Windows and Linux systems, is called “Autoplay Limit Default Setting”, with the description suggesting that Microsoft Edge would set the media autoplay setting to “Limit” as a default - stopping videos from starting up when a user lands on a website.
Currently, Edge offers two options for users to control media autoplay - “Allow” (the current defauly setting), where all videos on a website will play automatically with sound, and “Limit”, where media won’t be autoplayed on sites that a user has previously visited.
It appears that Microsoft is looking to test the feature in Canary before rolling it out to a wider userbase - as blocking autoplaying videos can cause issues for some websites.
The same Canary entry also hints at a future “Block” option, which would presumably stop any videos or media from playing when a user lands on a website. However this feature, which is also listed as being available for Mac, Windows and Linux systems, doesn’t appear to be enabled as yet.
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The news is the latest in a series of updates from Microsoft as it looks to boost Edge customer numbers.
This includes an upgrade that will allow users to change the size of the vertical tabs panel - letting them change the size of the vertical tabs panel by clicking and dragging the panel.
If you’ve yet to test out Chromium-based Edge on yourWindows 10 PCyet, now is the time to do so as Microsoft is constantly adding new features to its browser in an effort to get users to make the switch to Edge.
ViaTechdows
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
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