Facebook kills silent video. Here's how to mute 'em again

Why are autoplaying Facebook videos suddenly screaming at you? Weren't they supposed to be silent -- and thus easy to consume in public places without embarrassing you?

No more: Facebook has just decided to start auto-playing audio whenever you scroll past an auto-playing video in your News Feed. If that's not your cup of tea, though, it's pretty easy to turn it off -- and perhaps, voice your objection in the process.

(Love it? Great! Facebook said it made the decision after "hearing positive feedback," so you're in good company.)

The simplest way

If you simply set your phone to silent, that should mute the audio right away. Of course, you'll have to unsilence your phone if you actually do want audio for a specific video, which used to be as easy as tapping on the video in question in Facebook.

Disable auto-playing audio on Android

But you can also disable it in the app -- which may come with the added benefit of letting Facebook know that you aren't interested in auto-audio. Simply:

• Open the Facebook app
• Tap the three horizontal line button in the upper-right corner of the screen (the one that's just three lines, not the three lines next to a head)
• Scroll way, way, down to Help and Settings,and tap App Settings
• Tap the little slider to switch Videos in News Feed Start With Sound to the off position

Disable auto-playing audio on iPhone / iPad

• Open the Facebook app
• Tap the three horizontal line button in the lower-right corner of the screen (the one that's just three lines, not the three lines next to a head which you'll see in the top-right corner)
• Scroll a ways down to Settings.
• Tap Settings > Account Settings > Sound
• Tap the little slider to switch Videos in News Feed Start With Sound to the off position

That's it! Just don't assume that video content creators will necessarily keep moving to provide easy-to-read text for many videos, now that Facebook has sent this clear signal that audio is OK.