Stop GIFs from Autoplaying in Slack on iOS - Guide
Controlling Animated Images in Slack on iOS
By default, Slack automatically plays animated images. This can sometimes be distracting or undesirable. Fortunately, users can easily disable this automatic playback feature.
How to Disable Automatic Playback
To begin, open the Slack application and navigate to any channel within your workspace.
Next, locate and tap the menu button, typically found in the upper-right corner of the screen.
From the menu that appears, select “Settings”.
Within the Settings menu, tap on “Accessibility”.
Then, toggle the “Disable Animated Images” slider button. When activated, the button will turn green.
Once disabled, animated images will be displayed as static images and will no longer play automatically.
Interaction with iOS Reduce Motion
It’s important to note that Slack’s behavior is also influenced by the iOS system settings. If “Reduce Motion” is enabled within your iOS settings (General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion), Slack will automatically disable animated images.
Interestingly, changes made within Slack’s settings do not appear to retroactively affect the iOS “Reduce Motion” setting, and vice versa.
Limitations
A current limitation is that disabling animated images transforms GIFs into static images. There is no option to manually play individual GIFs while the “Disable Animated Images” setting is active.
To view an animated image, the setting must be temporarily re-enabled, allowing all animated images to play. This is an all-or-nothing functionality, but the setting is easily toggled as needed.
