How to stop autoplay videos in the App Store

Learn how to stop the App Store on your iPhone or iPad from auto-playing videos to save cellular data or keep things still if you have motion sickness.

Video playing in App Store on iPhone

Auto-playing app previews are nice unless you’re browsing the store while your iPhone is connected to your carrier’s cellular data network, especially if you’re on a capped data plan. Turning it off can also help save the iPhone battery, even if it’s by a minuscule factor.

In addition to that, auto-playing animated images and videos can be uncomfortable for some people, and turning them off can help prevent dizziness or nausea.

Stop video autoplay in the iOS App Store

1) Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.

2) Scroll down and tap App Store.

3) Tap Video Autoplay or Auto-Play Videos, which will put up a trio of options that make it easy for you to decide how app previews behave while you’re browsing the store. You can choose among the following options:

  • On: App video previews will play automatically on both Wi-Fi and cellular connections.
  • Wi-Fi Only: Videos shall play automatically on Wi-Fi connections only.
  • Off: Prevents App Store from automatically playing app video previews. To switch off the feature altogether, choose the Off option.
Turn off Video Autoplay for App Store on iPhone

As mentioned, this shall stop autoplay app previews in the App Store, saving you from unnecessarily wasting your expensive cellular data. Don’t worry; app pages will still show a thumbnail for the app preview under the screenshots section. A single tap on the thumbnail prompts the App Store to start playing the app preview.

Note that according to the feature’s description, whether you choose On or Wi-Fi Only, iOS will only try to autoplay app previews when you have sufficient bandwidth. Additionally, it won’t autoplay the videos if your device is in Low Power Mode.

Do more on the App Store: