Chrome has delayed its autoplay-blocking feature again before the release of version 70 of the browser.
The feature, which Google added in Chrome 66, was temporarily removed to give developers more time to update their websites. The feature was supposed to return in Chrome 70. Instead, it’ll return in Chrome 71.
Google’s communications manager Ivy Choi told The Verge that the browser will start learning which sites users typically play audio on so it can tailor its settings to their preferences. Furthermore, Choi says the blocking will begin in version 71.
Despite the intention of the autoplay-blocking feature — which is to save users from annoying ads that autoplay with sound — plenty of users are against the change. However, most have given up the fight.
Specifically, web developers and game makers who tried to work with Google regarding the policy change are now resigned to losing their work.
The problem is Google’s change to Chrome messes with the long-standing Web Audio API. Online games and interactive web art and all kinds of other experiments relied on the API to play audio. Under the new Chrome changes, those web pages won’t play sound anymore. Worse, there’s no way for users to disable or block the feature.
Other developers feel Google hasn’t documented the new policy well enough for them to do anything about it. Even if they had the time to update their old work, they don’t know how to conform to the new policies.
Ultimately, most users won’t notice the change. Some will love it — autoplaying media can be annoying, afterall.
But for many others, Chrome 71 will mark the end of a frustrating battle with Google. The company used to listen to developers when making changes to the web — it didn’t this time.
Source: The Verge
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