YouTube tests subtitled auto-play for videos on app homepage
Video-sharing site YouTube is testing a new feature on its Android app that enables users to assess auto-play video content they encounter while browsing to decide if they want to watch it. Videos on the app homepage will play automatically with subtitles rather than sound, stopping immediately if a user continues scrolling, with the same process continuing for the next video that comes into view. The move follows Google's August launch of video previews in search results, which offer six-second silent clips of a video.

Android Central

YouTube has begun testing a feature that auto-plays videos that appear on its app’s homepage to get a gauge of what a video is about before watching.

Through the feature, users can choose to watch full videos, however the videos are played with subtitles overlaid and not without sound. If the user scrolls up or down past a video, it stops playing and instead the next video in view plays.

The auto-play homepage feature, which was first spotted by Android Central, is currently only on the Android app. It has been dubbed ‘Play as you browse’ and can be disabled through Account -> Settings -> General -> Play as you browse. In addition, if the user doesn’t want to entirely disable the feature, they can choose to only have it work when they are connected to a wi-fi network.

In August, YouTube parent Google rolled out video previews in mobile search results. Unlike the YouTube’s play as you browse, this feature only plays six-second silent clips to provide the gist of a video.

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