Auto-Play
Auto-Play is an attention-commandeering dark pattern formally categorized under “Forced Action” and “Interface Interference.” It occurs when a system autonomously initiates the playback of continuous media—such as video advertisements, algorithmic feeds, or the next episode in a queue—without requiring an explicit, affirmative interaction from the user. By exploiting human inertia and the psychological difficulty of task-switching, the interface transitions from a state of “opt-in” consumption to “opt-out” consumption. This deliberately inflates engagement metrics and forces the user to actively intervene to halt systemic momentum, often while silently draining device resources such as bandwidth and battery.
1
Autonomous Media Execution
Condition 1: Autonomous Media Execution
Given
To identify the removal of user-led intent, we define as a continuous audiovisual asset and as its active playback state. We contrast this with , a discrete user action specifically targeting the play affordance. The feature triggers if the application algorithmically forces the playback state to active solely based on the spatial rendering exceeding a visibility threshold . This ensures media consumption begins as a side effect of navigation rather than a result of intent:
2
Affordance Suppression
Condition 2: Affordance Suppression
Given
The hostility of an auto-play system is exacerbated by inflating the friction required to regain control. We identify as the interactive UI node required to abort the auto-advance or pause the media. By evaluating the visual prominence and the interaction effort , the algorithm detects suppression. The feature triggers if the system deliberately minimizes, hides, or delays the rendering of the cancellation node, artificially increasing the cognitive and motor effort required to stop the automation:
3
Semantic Framing of Auto-Play as Content Continuation
Condition 3: Semantic Framing of Auto-Play as Content Continuation
Given
To establish a semantic baseline for Auto-Play, the algorithm inspects the labeling of the auto-play mechanism. The feature triggers if the interface semantically frames automatic content playback as a “next episode,” “continue watching,” or “up next” feature without an explicit “autoplay enabled” disclosure, reframing an automatic action as user-initiated continuity: