Twitter is following in Facebook’s footsteps by announcing video clips of various formats are now autoplaying as soon as users cast a gaze upon them.
Native Twitter videos, Vine clips and animated GIFs will all start playing as users scroll within their feeds on iOS and the web.
In a neat touch, if iPhone or iPad users switch their phone to landscape while a video is playing, the clip will switch to full-screen mode with audio. In portrait mode, tapping the video will also introduce the audio track.
Twitter is also affording users the option of switching off the automatic playback, for those conscious of data drain. Patrons can allow the videos to play automatically when connected to Wi-Fi, or eschew autoplay for a good old fashioned play button.
In a post on the company blog (via Engadget), Twitter wrote: “Remember, you have ultimate control through your settings. You can choose to revert to the previous click-to-play experience all the time or simply have videos autoplay only when you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
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“If you’re somewhere with high data rates or you have low bandwidth on your device, we’ll opt you out of autoplay to avoid unexpected charges or slow performance; so you’ll continue to see videos as click-to-play.”
Twitter says the Android version will be along soon enough.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
