Airplay steaming interrupted when browsing in Safari

[Richard8655]

Does anyone experience this? When Airplay streaming music from my iPad to an Airplay device (Apple TV in my case), then simultaneously browsing in Safari on the same iPad, some websites will often auto play their audio and interrupt the streaming. Apparently there's no setting in Safari to disable audio auto play.

 

[DarkPremiumCho]

I do. Not just AirPlay but also any media playing on the device. I find this issue quite bothersome and frustrating, and it may even cause me to leave the website and never return.

 

[Richard8655]

I do. Not just AirPlay but also any media playing on the device. I find this issue quite bothersome and frustrating, and it may even cause me to leave the website and never return.

My feelings exactly.

 

[Tagbert]

It is unfortunate that iOS audio handling is designed to only incorporate one audio stream at a time. It really should combine the streams into its output to be more flexible. Mac OS is more powerful in this regard where you can play multiple audio sources at once. It can become chaotic, especially with auto play promos, but it gives you more flexibility.

 

[Rnd-chars]

You might try turning on Low Power Mode which disables autoplay in Safari

 

[Richard8655]

You might try turning on Low Power Mode which disables autoplay in Safari

Thanks for the suggestion. Just tried low power mode and still no go. I tried previously to see if another web browser (like Chrome) might behave differently, but the same auto play issue there as well.

 

[Cromulent]

Thanks for the suggestion. Just tried low power mode and still no go. I tried previously to see if another web browser (like Chrome) might behave differently, but the same auto play issue there as well.

I think Firefox blocks auto-play. I'm not sure but it might be worth checking.

Allow or block media autoplay in Firefox | Firefox Help

Firefox prevents media from playing automatically on websites you visit, unless you grant permission. Learn more about this feature.

support.mozilla.org

 

[arw]

While it doesn't prevent videos from playing (muted), you could try the following setting:
Settings > Accessibility > App-specific settings > #Add Safari# > Auto. video preview > Off
But yes, this limitation of customizability is really annoying.
EDIT: It seems like iPadOS Firefox (although based on WebKit) is now actually able to disable auto-play (in new tabs).

 

[Richard8655]

Thanks to both for good suggestions.

While it doesn't prevent videos from playing (muted), you could try the following setting:
Settings > Accessibility > App-specific settings > #Add Safari# > Auto. video preview > Off
But yes, this limitation of customizability is really annoying. And as all iOS/iPadOS browsers must use WebKit, they all suffer from the same shortcomings.

Unfortunately even with this setting, auto play still interrupts music streaming. I even rebooted the iPad to no avail.

I think Firefox blocks auto-play. I'm not sure but it might be worth checking.

Allow or block media autoplay in Firefox | Firefox Help

Firefox prevents media from playing automatically on websites you visit, unless you grant permission. Learn more about this feature.

support.mozilla.org

I haven't tried Firefox yet, but next thing to give a go.
UPDATE: These apparently are settings for Firefox on Mac. The IOS version of Firefox doesn't seem to offer this option. Bummer!

 

[Crunchynut]

This problem still persists. The Accessibility settings on every app to switch autoplay off do nothing. Seems if you want to listen to music over Airplay then you can’t use your phone / iPad for anything else. C’mon Apple this is crazy.

Firefox under IOS is no better btw (the only setting I could find to do with Firefox autoplay was under Accessibility - which I’m guessing is an IOS parameter that doesn’t work, so even if the App can act on the setting it makes no difference).

 

[Tagbert]

This problem still persists. The Accessibility settings on every app to switch autoplay off do nothing. Seems if you want to listen to music over Airplay then you can’t use your phone / iPad for anything else. C’mon Apple this is crazy.

Firefox under IOS is no better btw (the only setting I could find to do with Firefox autoplay was under Accessibility - which I’m guessing is an IOS parameter that doesn’t work, so even if the App can act on the setting it makes no difference).

Since all browsers on iOS are required to just be a wrapper around a safari web view, it is not surprising that others behave in the same way and do not give you additional controls.