Youtube playlist videos won't play continuously after 2-3 video
Hello, everyone.
4-5 days ago, I've noticed weird YouTube playlist behavior. When I start playlist and switch to a different tab (or minimize browser) first video will play normally and it will autoplay the next one. But after finishing playing 2d video (3d in some cases) video will just stop at the end of playbar and not autoplay the next one in playlist. Playlist for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giUY_pEKTzY&list=OLAK5uy_nKmglmCCbx14WeFyH8e7YGYcL5skYwnp0&index=1
It's rather easy to replicate, I can record desktop video if needed.
Expected behavior: I can start YouTube playlist playing and switch to a different tab or minimize browser and playlist will only stop after playing last video in said playlist (unless "Loop playlist" option is enabled).
What I've tried to do so far: 1) Googling: I only was able to find old thread and the culprit was extension: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/952608 2) Disabling Extensions and confirming issue in Troubleshoot Mode: Did not help 3) Clear cache & cookies for YouTube: Did not help 4) "Allow Audio and Video" autoplay for YouTube: Did not help 5) Confirming issue in another browser: Works as intended in Opera 6) Checking about:config: I'm not that savvy with Firefox config to understand what may cause an issue. Tried to change media.block-autoplay-until-in-foreground to False. Did not help, rolled it back to True.
What I have noticed: 1) Firefox recent update: 118.0.2 October 10, 2023: Correlates when I started experiencing this issue. 2) YouTube playlists plays next video continuously just fine if I don't minimize browser or switch to a different tab. 3) There is a Firefox extension that does exactly what I don't want in my experience: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/no-playlist-autoplay-for-yt/ I installed it just to check. And yes, it does what expected and it is similar to what I'm experiencing. Although it stops playlist after finishing first video, my issues go into the affect after playing first video. (Deleted it after testing)
Before posting I've tried a few different things and here where things gets extremely weird: 1) It works just fine in Firefox if I log out from my YouTube account: (Incognito/Main tab) Do not work if I'm logged in, even in Incognito. However... 2) It works just fine in Opera if I'm logged in my YouTube account. 3) It works just fine if I open playlist in mini-player. (Current workaround)
After all that weirdness I attempted to Clear cache & cookies for YouTube and it did not help once again.
P.S. Yes, I use YouTube as a music player. :)
Vahaolana nofidina
Hey, everyone. Lately I've been listening to hour long music mixes so I didn't bother listening to YouTube playlists. I don't know when exactly, but I guess my issue has been self-resolved.
Hamaky an'ity valiny ity @ sehatra 👍 0All Replies (7)
Youtube playlists continuously autoplay for me from a background tab while logged in.
Do you hear any ads? They should play every few songs.
Does it still happen with a different Google account?
Does it still happen in a new profile? An easy way to test a new profile is to install Developer Edition and see if it happens there or refresh your existing profile.
zeroknight said
1. Do you hear any ads? They should play every few songs. 2. Does it still happen with a different Google account? 3. Does it still happen in a new profile?
1. No, no ads. Two factors in play: a) Adblock. But I'm already ruled out extensions via disabling them or verifying issue in Safe mode. b) Region policy. There are simply no ads for my region.
2. Works just fine with my other Google account. Double checked if my main account is still affected. The issue somehow only affects my main Google account specifically in Firefox. If needed, I can provide desktop recording to showcase this issue. Consistently repeating it each time.
3. This is an interesting theory. I was hoping that my issue ties with Firefox profile, but sadly it did not help. (Isn't testing in Safe Mode does the same thing tho? But I tried it anyway just to be sure)
I've downloaded Developer Edition. Created test profile and I'm still getting the same issue with my main Google Account. No issue whatsoever with no Google Account. :(
Novain'i ArgulKit t@
You can never completely rule out extensions if you are using them while testing so you should always test without them.
Go through your Youtube and Google settings page-by-page and compare them between the two accounts. Note any differences and see if changing them makes any difference.
Google could potentially detect and log ad blocker usage of an account and apply limits in certain contexts which happens to affect Firefox.
An interesting experiment would be to sign up for Youtube Premium and see if it still happens.
zeroknight said
1. You can never completely rule out extensions if you are using them while testing so you should always test without them. 2. Go through your Youtube and Google settings page-by-page and compare them between the two accounts. Note any differences and see if changing them makes any difference. Google could potentially detect and log ad blocker usage of an account and apply limits in certain contexts which happens to affect Firefox. 3. An interesting experiment would be to sign up for Youtube Premium and see if it still happens.
1. Yes, I understand but I already tested with or without them. And Dev Firefox testing was done completely free from extensions.
2. I tried to double check a few key settings but I wasn't able to find any differences. Question is, why is it only affecting my main Google Account in Firefox, but not in Opera.
If it had the same behavior in other browsers I would consider that the issue is not somewhere within Firefox.
3. Sadly not an option due to Region policy.
Another interesting note.
The issue only replicates specifically with my YouTube account. Not my Google account.
I tried to Clear cache & cookies once again, but this time for YouTube and Google. After logging into my Google account, it automatically selected my Google account for YouTube. And it worked just fine. Upon switching to my main YouTube account it replicated the issue once again.
It's rather frustrating due to the fact that it replicates exclusively in Firefox. Opera/Chrome works fine. But Firefox is my main browser for leisure so switching browsers not an option.
I don't think I can get any help from YouTube/Google support, because this issue only replicates with Firefox.
I think by this point I need to give some logs or other data (I just don't know what and how).
I recorded showcases with my issue. Just so we are on the same page:
https://youtu.be/la1RNElfDEI - issue https://youtu.be/Q6n2YMPyv7Q - workaround + issue
- Will delete videos later on if they are not relevant to the case, or issue is resolved.
Vahaolana Nofidina
Hey, everyone. Lately I've been listening to hour long music mixes so I didn't bother listening to YouTube playlists. I don't know when exactly, but I guess my issue has been self-resolved.