‘Autoplay on Home’ tab rolling out to free YouTube accounts on iOS and Android

Damien Wilde | Dec 4 2018 - 5:46 am PT

Initially an exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers for the past six months, “Autoplay on Home” is now rolling out to all free mobile users. This feature helps viewers decide what to watch before clicking on a video within the Home tab.

Whilst this will come as nothing new to those that have already subscribed to the YouTube Premium service, it is a completely optional feature that is enabled by default when connected to Wi-Fi.

You might not see this right away though, as Google confirmed that this feature will be rolling out over the coming weeks. It’s also likely that Autoplay on Home will vary in availability from region to region and device to device.

That said, users on both iOS and Android can expect to see those static thumbnails come to life as they scroll down their tailored YouTube feed. YouTube claims this will help viewers make a “more informed decision about whether you want to watch a video, leading to longer engagement with videos you choose to watch.”

YouTube has also released a video that explains the change in further detail, with YouTube product manager David Sharon helping to explain what Autoplay on Home does for both creators and consumers.

If you were worried about having these videos blaring out of your speakers, then don’t. Autoplay on Home plays the video in complete silence with captions turned on. Like we mentioned, you can disable the feature completely to save on mobile data — although Google has worked on this aspect to help consume much less data compared to watching the full video.

In addition to this, YouTube has confirmed that thumbnails are not going anywhere. With Autoplay on Home, videos will begin playing after a slight pause to showcase the thumbnail.