General Chat

and I don't have one of these devices,
But...........

What’s the cause of the Facebook problem?

If you’re a Facebook user then the chances are you’ve seen people share videos – whether movie trailers or ice bucket challenges – via the social media platform.

What you might not have realised is that these videos auto-play by default, which means that if you’re out and about and not within a wi-fi source, your 3G/4G data allowance is going to take a hit.

This can be a real problem, as one Which? member told us via Which?’s own Facebook page:


‘Recently I was charged £309 and £206 on consecutive months for data usage with Vodafone on my son’s smartphone (iPhone 4s). I was obviously very concerned about this and when I phoned Vodafone they were not very helpful except to say that my son had used the data and I had to pay. They did suggest that I went to one of their shops to see if there was a problem with the phone.

‘I took it to one of their shops and the engineer there took the phone, checked the Facebook app and said that this was the problem. He said that the Facebook app defaults to auto-play videos when you install it.

‘The fact that the app defaults to this setting is outrageous and is just a trap for the average consumer. Surely consumers need to have some sort of comeback on this. I have complained through the Ombudsman Services about Vodafone, but legally I don’t suppose they are culpable, except perhaps morally, but surely there must be a way to get at Facebook for this. It has cost me over £500 and I am in the process of cancelling my contract with Vodafone because I am so upset with them.’

How to turn off auto-play in Facebook

iOS devices – go to the Settings app, then select Facebook, Settings and Auto-play. Set the option either to ‘Wi-fi only’ if you want videos to auto-play when wi-fi is available, or ‘Off’ to make the option to play videos entirely manual.

Android devices – open the Facebook app and go to the More tab (on the top-right, indicated by three horizontal lines). Then scroll down to App Settings. As with iOS, pick either the ‘Wi-fi only’ or ‘Off’ setting to suit in the Video Auto-play section.

On a laptop PC – you may also want to turn video auto-play off on a laptop. To do so, go to Settings when logged in to Facebook.com and click Videos on the drop down menu. Click on the menu Auto-Play Videos and select ‘Off’.

Thanks Bob - I haven't a smartphone or on Facebook, but passed this on to my descendants - have already had a reply from granddaughter saying she checked and hers was on auto and has changed it, very grateful!

that's outrageous! :-P

Another reason I won't get a mobile 'phone, and DH will stick with his basic one.