When you are browsing the Google Play Store on your Android phone, looking for a new game or utility, you will frequently encounter promotional videos at the top of the app listing. By default, the Play Store is configured to automatically play these promotional videos the moment they scroll onto your screen.
This auto-play behavior is highly problematic. Not only is it visually distracting, but these high-definition videos secretly consume massive amounts of background data. If you are browsing the Play Store while connected to a cellular network with a strict data cap, these unprompted promotional videos can rapidly deplete your monthly data allowance.
You can configure the Google Play Store to completely halt all video playback until you explicitly tap the play button.
How to Stop Videos from Auto-Playing in the Play Store
You must change the network preferences directly within the Play Store app.
- Open the Google Play Store app on your Android smartphone.
- Tap on your Profile Picture (or initial) in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Tap to expand the Network preferences section.
- Tap on Auto-play videos.
- A popup menu will appear. Change the selection to Don’t auto-play videos.
- Tap OK to save your changes.
The Play Store will now strictly respect your data plan. When you open an app listing, the promotional video will remain frozen on its thumbnail image. It will only begin downloading and playing if you manually tap the play icon.