There is a Squarespace issue that stops background videos from playing on mobile. Squarespace’s stance on this is that it’s working as intended, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see any changes to this functionality.
My fix for this issue doesn’t require you to do anything differently, you still paste your video URL into the background video field as normal. This video demonstrates this, and the difference between a page with the plugin installed (background video auto-plays) and without (background video doesn’t play, fallback image is shown).
I think this fix will provide real value to Squarespace website owners, so I’m going to start offering it as a plugin for £40. Before I start writing instructions and setting up the product I want to gauge interest, so please let me know in the comments if you’d like to have this plugin.
The plugin has some stipulations:
– You must have the business plan or higher to be able to paste the custom code for this fix
– You must be using a paid Vimeo account, not Youtube. Most people should be doing this anyway because Youtube videos have youtube stuff all over them resulting in a poor user experience, and a paid Vimeo account is required for background videos
– On iOS there’s a feature that stops autoplay videos if the device is in low-power mode.
