Squarespace background video not working on mobile: fallback

A common cause is power saving: Squarespace says devices in low-battery or power-saving mode won't display background videos, and without a fallback image they may show a video thumbnail and an unresponsive play button. Add a fallback image to the section. You can take that image from the clip itself with Sume's Video frames.

Squarespace facts are from its help page; Video frames facts from the Video frames docs, both read 2026-09-30.

Why does the video not play on some phones?

The help page names one cause directly: low-battery or power-saving mode. It does not say the file is broken, so check the phone's power setting before you re-upload anything. The page also gives limits worth checking: uploaded section background videos are limited to 60 seconds, and Squarespace advises keeping them under 40 seconds.

How do I get a fallback image that matches the clip?

Import the clip to media.sume.com with POST /v1/media-imports, then call POST /v1/video-frames with video_url and one at time. The result is a durable artf_ image at the source size, as JPEG by default, which you download and upload as the section's fallback image. The submit always returns 202; read the result with GET /v1/video-frames/{id}. The source clip can be up to 300 seconds.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-frames \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: fallback-still-001" \
  -d '{ "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/hero.mp4", "at": [1.5] }'

What can I control on the still?

Which frame should I pick?

Pass several times, such as [0.5, 2, 4], and choose the one that looks best without motion. A still near the opening is what visitors see first on a device that skips playback. See also extract video frames with the API.