Autoplay loops can consume entire nights by continuously playing videos or media without stopping, often leading to wasted time and disrupted sleep. To stop these autoplay loops, you need to disable or control autoplay settings on the specific platforms or devices where they occur.
On iPhones, for example, the Photos app introduced an automatic video loop feature that restarts videos continuously. To stop this, you can go to the Settings app, scroll down to the Photos app settings, and disable the “Loop Video” option. This prevents videos from automatically looping in the Photos app, helping you avoid endless playback[1].
For YouTube, autoplay is enabled by default and causes the next video to play automatically after the current one ends. To stop this, you can toggle off the autoplay switch located near the video player, usually at the top-right corner or just below the video. Turning this off stops the automatic playing of the next video. Additionally, a useful trick to temporarily stop the autoplay countdown without disabling it is to scroll up on the video page before the countdown ends. This interrupts the countdown and lets you explore other videos without the next one playing automatically. However, this is not foolproof and autoplay can still resume if you fall asleep or forget to intervene[2][3].
On desktop YouTube, you can also right-click on the video and select “Loop” to toggle looping on or off. If you want to stop a video from looping, ensure this option is unchecked. On mobile, looping a video or playlist involves tapping the three-dot menu and toggling the loop option. If the loop option is missing, updating the app or switching to a browser in desktop mode may help[4].
For other media platforms or browsers, autoplay settings can often be controlled through the browser or app settings. For example, in Chrome or Edge, you can go to settings, find “Cookies and site permissions,” then “Media autoplay,” and choose to block or allow autoplay. Blocking autoplay prevents videos or audio from starting automatically on websites, which can stop unwanted loops[7].
In presentation software like Google Slides, autoplay and looping can be controlled within the presentation settings. You can set slides to auto-advance and loop only when presenting, and these settings need to be re-enabled each time you start the presentation. This prevents slideshows from running endlessly without your control[6].
To avoid autoplay loops wasting your nights, the key steps are:
– Identify the app or platform where autoplay is causing issues.
– Locate the autoplay or loop settings within the app or device settings.
– Disable autoplay or loop features, or use available toggles to control playback.
– Use tricks like interrupting countdowns on YouTube by scrolling to stop automatic next video play temporarily.
– Update apps or browsers to ensure you have the latest controls and options.
– Adjust browser permissions to block media autoplay on websites.
– For devices like iPhones, disable video looping in the Photos app settings.
By systematically managing autoplay and loop settings across your devices and apps, you can prevent endless playback loops that waste your time and disrupt your nights.
