#settings

#settings

Every day, new videos beam onto your smartphone that you probably didn't want or expect to watch. Certain services, like TikTok, Instagram, and X are entirely based on autoplaying videos as soon as you open the app. However, there are ways to prevent autoplay, and allow you to opt in or out of content. For those who prefer intentional playback, especially on intense news days, here's an app-by-app guide to disabling video autoplay on some of the most highly trafficked social media platforms out there.

Microsoft caused a bit of a furor last year by dropping the word "deprecated" into a support document for the Control Panel. It hastily stepped back from the precipice, but the current verbiage, "the Control Panel still exists for compatibility reasons," should leave users in no doubt. Microsoft would very much like this refugee from an earlier era of Windows to be put out to pasture.