When Autoplay is off, certain interactions with video player halts playback

[Brave-Matt]

Description

When the Autoplay permission is set to Block (manually or by default), any interaction with a video player (ex Youtube), such as changing the volume of the video or sometimes jumping forward/backward to certain points in the video will cause the player to halt playback. The user then needs to start the video again manually. Note that this happens every time you go to adjust/interact with the player, not just the first time.

Steps to Reproduce

1. In Brave v1.18.78 or higher, visit YouTube.com
2. Select a video to play and ensure that Autoplay is Blocked for YouTube, or that you select Block when prompted.
3. Start to stream the selected video.
4. In the player, attempt to change the playback volume and observe playback halted.

Actual result:

Playback stops after interaction:
https://imgur.com/a/tAGdCLs

Expected result:

Playback should only be halted on first load (since Autoplay = Blocked) or if the user pauses the video directly -- not when adjusting video settings.

Reproduces how often:

Always

Brave version (brave://version info)

Version 1.18.78 Chromium: 87.0.4280.141 (Official Build) (x86_64)

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Yes
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? Yes
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? Yes

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? No
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards? No
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? No

Miscellaneous Information:

User thread:
https://community.brave.com/t/audio-stops-when-adjusting-volume-level/196109
cc @darkdh

[SevilleCode]

I have noticed a similar issue with audio elements on the Wikimedia Commons website. If autoplay is set to Blocked, the audio files will not play at all, even after the user tries to play them manually. If autoplay is set to Allowed, then users can play the audio files normally.

[Brave-Matt]

+1 Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/adjusting-volume-stops-video-playback/210613/2

[Brave-Matt]

+1 Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/videos-pause-upon-adjust-the-volume/234588/5

[rebron]

+1 from #16102 with a specific use case for Twitch.tv

STR:

1. Turn off AutoPlay globally in the browser settings
2. Go to https://www.twitch.tv/ and open any online twitch.tv stream in current or new tab (doesn't matter)
3. Stream is paused and muted by default
4. Click play button at the bottom left of the Player to start the stream
5. Video starts playing muted
6. Click mute/unmute button at the bottom left of the Player to unmute the stream
7. Stream pauses itself while still being muted
8. To actually unmute and play it you need to first unmute it while paused and then click the play button at.

[ardunster]

I also have this problem both on Windows 10 at work (my current device, Version 1.25.72 Chromium: 91.0.4472.101 (Official Build) (64-bit) ) and on my OSX Catalina device at home (don't have version handy for that one). It's pretty annoying. I haven't noticed the behavior with other situations but it definitely occurs when adjusting volume on YouTube videos which makes it quite tricky to finely adjust volume on a playing video.

[KevinSource0]

+1 from community https://community.brave.com/t/videos-pause-upon-changing-volume/188456 and https://community.brave.com/t/blocking-autoplay-on-youtube-causes-volume-adjust-to-pause-playback/190196.
It's been reported since December 2020, still seeing it (currently on latest version of Brave: Version 1.25.72 Chromium: 91.0.4472.101 (Official Build) (x86_64), OS: Mac 10.15.7).

[mnhrsngh]

+1 I just switched to using Brave, and this bug is really making me reconsider... the fix cannot be so difficult, any reason this is still unresolved half a year later?

[Brave-Matt]

+1 https://community.brave.com/t/when-auto-play-is-turned-off-changing-the-volume-stops-the-playback/267629/3

[joel-williams]

+1 still happening, Windows 10, v1.27.111

[pefopi]

+1 on Brave V1.31.88 - Windows 10 21H1, Build 19043.1320

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Community:
https://community.brave.com/t/changing-volume-stops-videos-from-playing/308239/2

[Canowyrms]

Just giving Brave browser a try now, thought I was going crazy having YouTube videos pause every time I used scroll-wheel to adjust volume.

Temporary workaround working (so far*) for me:

• Allow autoplay in Brave's settings
• Use AutoplayStopper Chrome extension

Stupid, but it works.

[jbruchon]

I have to be honest, I'm pretty shocked that this isn't fixed and it's been a bug for over a year, plus "assigned" for 4 months. It's extremely annoying that merely adjusting the volume control STOPS the video.

[Brave-Matt]

Still seeing reports of this cc @rebron
https://community.brave.com/t/youtube-clips-will-stop-when-i-set-a-new-volume/342988/2

[moon91210]

This is still happening today. Very annoying and almost made me go back to using Firefox again. Using the fix mentioned by Canowyrms instead now. This seems like a really easy thing to fix.

[Yavuplogu]

Same problem here on Windows 10.

[blae-s]

Still happening with brave V1.39.111 on linux

[Brave-Matt]

Additional user reports for users on v1.39.122:
https://community.brave.com/t/streams-stop-with-every-volume-change/404359/9

[stephendonner]

Verified PASSED using

Brave	1.43.61 Chromium: 104.0.5112.81 (Official Build) beta (x86_64)
Revision	5b7b76419d50f583022568b6764b630f6ddc9208-refs/branch-heads/5112@{#1309}
OS	macOS Version 11.6.8 (Build 20G730)

Steps:

1. installed 1.43.61
2. launched Brave
3. loaded youtube.com
4. selected https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKfPfyJRdk
5. streamed the above, first confirming autoplay=blocked
6. tweaked volume and other controls while video/audio was playing

Confirmed video/audio playback didn't stop:

autoplay=blocked	uninterrupted YouTube playback

Also double-checked on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

[stephendonner]

It appears Twitch.tv still has the problem mentioned in #13586 (comment)

[LaurenWags]

It appears Twitch.tv still has the problem mentioned in #13586 (comment)

@stephendonner is there a follow up for this? if not, can you please log? Thanks!

[stephendonner]

It appears Twitch.tv still has the problem mentioned in #13586 (comment)

@stephendonner is there a follow up for this? if not, can you please log? Thanks!

Filed #24556 👍