Closed Bug 1871919 Opened 1 year ago Closed 6 months ago

autoplay is not totally disabled on several websites

Categories

(Core :: Audio/Video: Playback, defect)

Product:
Core
Component:
Audio/Video: Playback
Version:
Firefox 115
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1681603

People

(Reporter: michael-remy, Unassigned)

References

Details

Attachments

(4 files)

autoplay00imdb.jpg
231.42 KB, image/jpeg
Details
my about:config autoplay
179.20 KB, image/jpeg
Details
my standard settings for autoplay
108.80 KB, image/jpeg
Details
imdb autoplay.jpg
159.57 KB, image/jpeg
Details
Attached image autoplay00imdb.jpg —

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:109.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/115.0

Steps to reproduce:

Actual results:

if i do nothing, then nothing will happen (not autoplay video)...
...but if i'm scrolling down slowly the page (like half the main adv-banner) , then the video trailer is starting (without sound) whereas i disabled all autoplay, specially for imdb

Expected results:

as i disabled autoplay for both video and audio (i'll put my snapshot options in comments) , there should not be any autplaying videos on this website !

ps : i have a little doubt : as the video have no sound and a little of "pixelisation", maybe it is "clever-fake" video media which can be a gif animation in background of the player. But i never saw such UX improvement to convert-replace a video by its own gif anim version...it would be a first !!!

The Bugbug bot thinks this bug should belong to the 'Core::Audio/Video: Playback' component, and is moving the bug to that component. Please correct in case you think the bot is wrong.

Component: Untriaged → Audio/Video: Playback
Product: Firefox → Core

Websites can bypass the autoplay blocking by start playing the video on certain user interaction event, such as click (not necessarily be on the video itself) or key press.

Can you provide the exact details of how you "scroll down" ?

  • What kind of device do you use?
  • Which key or button do you press when you start or stop scrolling?
  • Do you see any kind of UI for "scrolling" ?

Also, what kind of interaction do you perform other than scrolling?
If you do something else than scroll

Here's what I observed on the website, with "Block Audio and Video" setting.

The video doesn't play with the following:

  • scroll with apple's trackpad's two finger scroll
  • scroll with mouse's wheel
  • hit "arrow down" key to scroll down, and hit "arrow up" key to scroll up
  • hit "page down" key to scroll down, and hit "page up" key to scroll up

And the video plays with the following:

  • Hit "space" key to scroll down, and hit "arrow up" key to scroll up
  • Use Firefox's "autoscrolling feature" (which can be enabled by about:preferences#general -> Browsing -> Use autoscrolling), that is: hold mouse's middle-button, move cursor down to scroll down, and move cursor up to scroll up
  • Click empty area next to the movie title ("Candy Cane Lane") and then scroll with apple's trackpad's two finger scroll

In the above latter cases, either the space key hit, or the mouse button down/click is considered to be an user interaction that allows the video playing.

So, if your case matches the above latter cases, or similar to them, that would be the reason.

Flags: needinfo?(michael-remy)

here's how i scroll down :
i use my mouse and to the scrollbar and click it to catch it and move down the slider.
i don't use wheelmouse, i don't use arrow down key, , i don't use page down.
i use MS Windows, not Apple.

can you confirm it is the SAME video file which is autoplay ?
because (as i said into the P.S), it might be a clever UX to autoplay a gif-anim picture (as the resolution is low and very pixelized comparing the original video when i press the PLAY button).

more info :
i noticed another fact :
when there is an autoscroll down (from css or javascript), the maybe-"video"/gif-anim is auto-playing too.
When the top banner appear/desappear, the site make an autoscroll (or auto div-resize due to desable div of banner) operation that create a "imitating" scroll behavior.

Flags: needinfo?(michael-remy)

Thank you for the details.

Yes, it's the same video, which is embedded at the center of the page.
I see pixelated (highly-compressed?) video when it starts playing.

I've tested with the following configuration:

  • Windows 11
  • Firefox 115.6.0esr (64-bit)
  • in about:preferences#privacy -> Permissions -> Autoplay -> Default for all websites: "Block Audio and Video"

and the following steps:

  1. open a new tab and type https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21328106/?ref_=vp_close to the address bar and hit enter
  2. wait for a while until the page-top banner gets inserted
  3. (use regular mouse with no extra driver) move cursor to the scroll bar and hover over the slider
  4. hold the mouse primary button on the slider
  5. slowly move mouse cursor to scroll down
  6. release the mouse primary button
  7. (just in case) hold the mouse primary button on the slider again
  8. slowly move mouse cursor to scroll up
  9. release the mouse primary button

but the video doesn't start playing with the above steps.

on the other hand, if I click empty area on the page before step 3, the video starts playing after step 9.
also, if I click empty area on the page before step 2, the video starts playing after step 2, which would be related to the last paragraph in your comment, because the video starts playing after the banner shifts the video down.

So, I wonder if there's something that dispatches an user interaction event to the page, other than the scroll itself.

For example, I once see a dialog on the page asking for review. Clicking the "x" button (dismiss) there is considered to be an user interaction, and
scrolling after that starts the video.

Can you test if the issue persists in "Troubleshooting mode", with the above exact steps ?
especially, please verify you don't click anywhere on the page, except for the scrollbar
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/diagnose-firefox-issues-using-troubleshoot-mode

If you perform something different than the steps, can you provide the steps?

Flags: needinfo?(michael-remy)

hi
i tested the troubleshooting mode and the video is really autoplay too ! even without touch the scrollbar and not clicked nowhere !

when i come back to normal mode, i revisited the page and now, the "video " pixelated now starts too without scroll anymore !

i'm still having doubt about : the media plaing cause the pixelated version. Why a pixelated version in autoplay-off and a high quality video when i click play ...
i checked the media tab (in page infos) but i can't see any gif-anim picture of this "video/gif-anim" media ... is there a way to get its url? (the pixelated one)

Flags: needinfo?(michael-remy)

i have another info about this bug :

when i publish and noticed the bug, it was happening in firefox 115 release. now i just tested the troubleshooting mode in 115.6.0esr (64 bits) because i have automatic updated activated... ... that may indicate why the video is now playing auto without scrolling down.

But, i also use a portable version of firefox on my computer release 115.0.3 (32-bit) without automatic update, and in that one , there is no autoplay at all, no at start, no when i scroll down.

why the portable 115.0.3 (32-bit) have a normal autoplay blocking whereas the not-portable 115.6.0esr (64 bits) have the bug ? that is the question !

yeah, it's possible that we're getting different content, due to A/B testing or something on the server side,
and what you're seeing might actually be GIF animation.

I confirmed that it's video element for me.
when the autoplay starts, I see the following element in the page, which is playing the pixelated video.
(you can search it from inspector https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/page_inspector/index.html , search with ""jw-video jw-reset")
when I call pause() on it (secondary click on the element in Inspector, select "Use in Console", and enter temp0.pause()), the video stops,
and when I call play(), it starts playing.

<video class="jw-video jw-reset" tabindex="-1" disableremoteplayback="" webkit-playsinline="" playsinline="" src="blob:https://www.imdb.com/fadd85d6-89d0-435e-beb2-085bce8f10b7"></video>

can you check if you get the same thing?

Also, given that you get different behavior between regular installation vs portable, it might be caused by something in your profile.
Can you check if you get the same behavior with temporarily created clean profile, with the comment #6's steps?
(don't forget to set "Block Audio and Video" setting)
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-remove-switch-firefox-profiles

The severity field is not set for this bug.
:jimm, could you have a look please?

For more information, please visit BugBot documentation.

Flags: needinfo?(jmathies)
Flags: needinfo?(jmathies)
See Also: → 1879834

well, even if the bug is not resolved.
IMDB website added an option to disable the 'silent' autoplay video ! (see the screenshot) on the last file i just added in details.

Attached image imdb autoplay.jpg —

even if firefox did not protect from autoplay, imdb added an option to disable it.

In case you use uBlock Origin or AdGuard, enable the AdGuard Annoyances list to block autoplay triggers from sites that do not offer an option to disable this behavior (like many news sites). If it doesn't work with any site you use regularly, you can use this anonymous form to report it to AdGuard.

(In reply to ed from comment #14)

Why aren’t people voting? There are zero votes on this bug, which means the submitter did not vote on their own bug report. I will add my vote, because it’s an extremely annoying bug -- and it costs me money because I’m on a limited connection. When I visit Ars Technica:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/making-energy-smart-bricks-from-recycling-waste/

there is an indicator in the URL field claiming autoplay was blocked, yet the video in the right sidebar plays immediately. This is on FF 115.10.0 esr.

Note another bug was already open on this issue → https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1681603 and https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1824180

hi Ed,
i'm the submitter of this bug.
Firstly i did not know i have to vote
Secondly, why does my submission not considered as a vote!?

i just re-test the issue on 115.12.0esr , and the bug remains unsolved. But, as i said before, it only happen on imdb, and since imdb add itself another option to desable it, i let this bug sleeping...
i did not discover other website where autoplay is not block, only imdb.

(In reply to uncledude from comment #17)

(In reply to 2002luvabbaluvu from comment #16)

i did not discover other website where autoplay is not block, only imdb.

Is on YouTube too.
Fix is about:config's javascript.enabled=false + https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1913629#c4

Again, this is not the same issue as yours. This is about autoplay on the destkop client. Your fix is not a fix.

Oops. True, Termux is not for desktop.
about:config's javascript.enabled=false + https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/downthemall/ allows Desktop Firefox to control which media executes

Firstly i did not know i have to vote

You don't have to vote for your own bug

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 6 months ago
Duplicate of bug: autoplay-block-bypass
Resolution: --- → DUPLICATE
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