A really cool feature of the Bebo API is that, unlike the Facebook API, they are committed to allow autoplay on Flash widgets placed on Profile pages. Facebook has turned off this feature, requiring users to click on the widget before it is allowed to play. Today, Bebo became even more appealing by announcing they are going to allow the user to have preference over what autoplays and what does not.
On Bebo, Developers have the choice to have the sound on their Flash widgets play when the page is loaded, have the sound off when the page is loaded, or disable the sound entirely. Users have the ability to disable sound entirely when they load pages:
“bebo users can opt to not autoplay flash content on profiles they view – if such a viewer is viewing a page then all sn:swf tags that requested sound=âonâ will be set to âoffâ
Flash Widgets still autoplay, with or without sound. The user then has the opportunity to turn on the sound with a little speaker icon in the upper-right corner of the widget.
I think this is a great way to prevent spam of music or other sounds playing as you load others’ profiles, similar to how MySpace does it. At the same time, it stays flexible for developers in that they can have a completely running flash application (instead of an image, like Facebook), right as the page loads. Apps like the Skype app for Facebook and my GrandCentral app actually have purpose with this method.
