diff --git a/android/app/libs/fijkplayer-full-release.aar b/android/app/libs/fijkplayer-full-release.aar
index 17f13e5b2..72547c9dc 100644
Binary files a/android/app/libs/fijkplayer-full-release.aar and b/android/app/libs/fijkplayer-full-release.aar differ
diff --git a/lib/l10n/app_en.arb b/lib/l10n/app_en.arb
index 71663228b..2b2e4ded7 100644
--- a/lib/l10n/app_en.arb
+++ b/lib/l10n/app_en.arb
@@ -549,8 +549,10 @@
   "@settingsSectionVideo": {},
   "settingsVideoShowVideos": "Show videos",
   "@settingsVideoShowVideos": {},
-  "settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration": "Enable hardware acceleration",
+  "settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration": "Hardware acceleration",
   "@settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration": {},
+  "settingsVideoEnableAutoPlay": "Auto play",
+  "@settingsVideoEnableAutoPlay": {},
   "settingsVideoLoopModeTile":  "Loop mode",
   "@settingsVideoLoopModeTile": {},
   "settingsVideoLoopModeTitle":  "Loop Mode",
diff --git a/lib/l10n/app_ko.arb b/lib/l10n/app_ko.arb
index 670a2fa5c..cc48063c5 100644
--- a/lib/l10n/app_ko.arb
+++ b/lib/l10n/app_ko.arb
@@ -256,7 +256,8 @@
 
   "settingsSectionVideo": "동영상",
   "settingsVideoShowVideos": "미디어에 동영상 표시",
-  "settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration": "하드웨어 가속 사용",
+  "settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration": "하드웨어 가속",
+  "settingsVideoEnableAutoPlay": "자동 재생",
   "settingsVideoLoopModeTile":  "반복 모드",
   "settingsVideoLoopModeTitle":  "반복 모드",
 
diff --git a/lib/model/settings/settings.dart b/lib/model/settings/settings.dart
index b7a9de9da..e837d2e64 100644
--- a/lib/model/settings/settings.dart
+++ b/lib/model/settings/settings.dart
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ class Settings extends ChangeNotifier {
   static const viewerQuickActionsKey = 'viewer_quick_actions';
 
   // video
-  static const isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabledKey = 'video_hwaccel_mediacodec';
+  static const enableVideoHardwareAccelerationKey = 'video_hwaccel_mediacodec';
+  static const enableVideoAutoPlayKey = 'video_auto_play';
   static const videoLoopModeKey = 'video_loop';
 
   // info
@@ -229,9 +230,13 @@ class Settings extends ChangeNotifier {
 
   // video
 
-  set isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabled(bool newValue) => setAndNotify(isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabledKey, newValue);
+  set enableVideoHardwareAcceleration(bool newValue) => setAndNotify(enableVideoHardwareAccelerationKey, newValue);
 
-  bool get isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabled => getBoolOrDefault(isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabledKey, true);
+  bool get enableVideoHardwareAcceleration => getBoolOrDefault(enableVideoHardwareAccelerationKey, true);
+
+  set enableVideoAutoPlay(bool newValue) => setAndNotify(enableVideoAutoPlayKey, newValue);
+
+  bool get enableVideoAutoPlay => getBoolOrDefault(enableVideoAutoPlayKey, false);
 
   VideoLoopMode get videoLoopMode => getEnumOrDefault(videoLoopModeKey, VideoLoopMode.shortOnly, VideoLoopMode.values);
 
diff --git a/lib/model/video/metadata.dart b/lib/model/video/metadata.dart
index e32faf46e..8e3edde97 100644
--- a/lib/model/video/metadata.dart
+++ b/lib/model/video/metadata.dart
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import 'package:aves/utils/file_utils.dart';
 import 'package:aves/utils/math_utils.dart';
 import 'package:aves/utils/string_utils.dart';
 import 'package:aves/utils/time_utils.dart';
+import 'package:aves/widgets/common/video/fijkplayer.dart';
 import 'package:fijkplayer/fijkplayer.dart';
 import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
 
@@ -32,20 +33,7 @@ class VideoMetadataFormatter {
 
   static Future<Map> getVideoMetadata(AvesEntry entry) async {
     final player = FijkPlayer();
-    await player.setDataSource(entry.uri, autoPlay: false);
-
-    final completer = Completer();
-    void onChange() {
-      if ([FijkState.prepared, FijkState.error].contains(player.state)) {
-        completer.complete();
-      }
-    }
-
-    player.addListener(onChange);
-    await player.prepareAsync();
-    await completer.future;
-    player.removeListener(onChange);
-
+    await player.setDataSourceUntilPrepared(entry.uri);
     final info = await player.getInfo();
     await player.release();
     return info;
diff --git a/lib/theme/durations.dart b/lib/theme/durations.dart
index ded2c0f31..a1300a711 100644
--- a/lib/theme/durations.dart
+++ b/lib/theme/durations.dart
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class Durations {
   static const viewerOverlayChangeAnimation = Duration(milliseconds: 150);
   static const viewerOverlayPageScrollAnimation = Duration(milliseconds: 200);
   static const viewerOverlayPageShadeAnimation = Duration(milliseconds: 150);
+  static const viewerVideoPlayerTransition = Duration(milliseconds: 500);
 
   // info animations
   static const mapStyleSwitchAnimation = Duration(milliseconds: 300);
diff --git a/lib/widgets/common/video/fijkplayer.dart b/lib/widgets/common/video/fijkplayer.dart
index 18d2aba52..53f891cfc 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/common/video/fijkplayer.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/common/video/fijkplayer.dart
@@ -24,9 +24,13 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
   final ValueNotifier<StreamSummary> _selectedAudioStream = ValueNotifier(null);
   final ValueNotifier<StreamSummary> _selectedTextStream = ValueNotifier(null);
   final ValueNotifier<Tuple2<int, int>> _sar = ValueNotifier(Tuple2(1, 1));
+  Timer _initialPlayTimer;
 
   Stream<FijkValue> get _valueStream => _valueStreamController.stream;
 
+  static const initialPlayDelay = Duration(milliseconds: 100);
+  static const gifLikeVideoDurationThreshold = Duration(seconds: 10);
+
   IjkPlayerAvesVideoController(AvesEntry entry) {
     FijkLog.setLevel(FijkLogLevel.Warn);
     _instance = FijkPlayer();
@@ -42,10 +46,14 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
     // player cannot be dynamically set to use accurate seek only when playing
     const accurateSeekEnabled = false;
 
-    // when HW acceleration is enabled, videos with dimensions that do not fit 16x macroblocks need cropping
+    // playing with HW acceleration seems to skip the last frames of some videos
+    // so HW acceleration is always disabled for gif-like videos where the last frames may be significant
+    final hwAccelerationEnabled = settings.enableVideoHardwareAcceleration && entry.durationMillis > gifLikeVideoDurationThreshold.inMilliseconds;
+
     // TODO TLAD HW codecs sometimes fail when seek-starting some videos, e.g. MP2TS/h264(HDPR)
-    final hwAccelerationEnabled = settings.isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabled;
     if (hwAccelerationEnabled) {
+      // when HW acceleration is enabled, videos with dimensions that do not fit 16x macroblocks need cropping
+      // TODO TLAD not all formats/devices need this correction, e.g. 498x278 MP4 on S7, 408x244 WEBM on S10e do not
       final s = entry.displaySize % 16 * -1 % 16;
       _macroBlockCrop = Offset(s.width, s.height);
     }
@@ -83,6 +91,7 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
 
   @override
   void dispose() {
+    _initialPlayTimer?.cancel();
     _instance.removeListener(_onValueChanged);
     _valueStreamController.close();
     _subscriptions
@@ -142,7 +151,7 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
     _valueStreamController.add(_instance.value);
   }
 
-  // enable autoplay, even when seeking on uninitialized player, otherwise the texture is not updated
+  // always start playing, even when seeking on uninitialized player, otherwise the texture is not updated
   // as a workaround, pausing after a brief duration is possible, but fiddly
   @override
   Future<void> setDataSource(String uri, {int startMillis = 0}) async {
@@ -150,14 +159,28 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
       // `seek-at-start`: set offset of player should be seeked, default: 0, in [0, INT_MAX]
       await _instance.setOption(FijkOption.playerCategory, 'seek-at-start', startMillis);
     }
-    await _instance.setDataSource(uri, autoPlay: true);
+    // calling `setDataSource()` with `autoPlay` starts as soon as possible, but often yields initial artifacts
+    // so we introduce a small delay after the player is declared `prepared`, before playing
+    await _instance.setDataSourceUntilPrepared(uri);
+    _initialPlayTimer = Timer(initialPlayDelay, play);
   }
 
   @override
-  Future<void> play() => _instance.start();
+  Future<void> play() {
+    if (_instance.isPlayable()) {
+      _instance.start();
+    }
+    return SynchronousFuture(null);
+  }
 
   @override
-  Future<void> pause() => _instance.pause();
+  Future<void> pause() {
+    if (_instance.isPlayable()) {
+      _initialPlayTimer?.cancel();
+      _instance.pause();
+    }
+    return SynchronousFuture(null);
+  }
 
   @override
   Future<void> seekTo(int targetMillis) => _instance.seekTo(targetMillis);
@@ -199,7 +222,7 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
             fit: FijkFit(
               sizeFactor: 1.0,
               aspectRatio: dar,
-              alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
+              alignment: _alignmentForRotation(entry.rotationDegrees),
               macroBlockCrop: _macroBlockCrop,
             ),
             panelBuilder: (player, data, context, viewSize, texturePos) => SizedBox(),
@@ -207,6 +230,20 @@ class IjkPlayerAvesVideoController extends AvesVideoController {
           );
         });
   }
+
+  Alignment _alignmentForRotation(int rotation) {
+    switch (rotation) {
+      case 90:
+        return Alignment.topRight;
+      case 180:
+        return Alignment.bottomRight;
+      case 270:
+        return Alignment.bottomLeft;
+      case 0:
+      default:
+        return Alignment.topLeft;
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 extension ExtraIjkStatus on FijkState {
@@ -233,6 +270,32 @@ extension ExtraIjkStatus on FijkState {
   }
 }
 
+extension ExtraFijkPlayer on FijkPlayer {
+  Future<void> setDataSourceUntilPrepared(String uri) async {
+    await setDataSource(uri, autoPlay: false);
+
+    final completer = Completer();
+    void onChange() {
+      switch (state) {
+        case FijkState.prepared:
+          removeListener(onChange);
+          completer.complete();
+          break;
+        case FijkState.error:
+          removeListener(onChange);
+          completer.completeError(value.exception);
+          break;
+        default:
+          break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    addListener(onChange);
+    await prepareAsync();
+    return completer.future;
+  }
+}
+
 enum StreamType { video, audio, text }
 
 extension ExtraStreamType on StreamType {
diff --git a/lib/widgets/settings/settings_page.dart b/lib/widgets/settings/settings_page.dart
index 7b5a02a5d..d6d62725e 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/settings/settings_page.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/settings/settings_page.dart
@@ -241,10 +241,15 @@ class _SettingsPageState extends State<SettingsPage> {
           title: Text(context.l10n.settingsVideoShowVideos),
         ),
         SwitchListTile(
-          value: settings.isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabled,
-          onChanged: (v) => settings.isVideoHardwareAccelerationEnabled = v,
+          value: settings.enableVideoHardwareAcceleration,
+          onChanged: (v) => settings.enableVideoHardwareAcceleration = v,
           title: Text(context.l10n.settingsVideoEnableHardwareAcceleration),
         ),
+        SwitchListTile(
+          value: settings.enableVideoAutoPlay,
+          onChanged: (v) => settings.enableVideoAutoPlay = v,
+          title: Text(context.l10n.settingsVideoEnableAutoPlay),
+        ),
         ListTile(
           title: Text(context.l10n.settingsVideoLoopModeTile),
           subtitle: Text(settings.videoLoopMode.getName(context)),
diff --git a/lib/widgets/viewer/entry_viewer_stack.dart b/lib/widgets/viewer/entry_viewer_stack.dart
index 5b18d8251..b1a50090b 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/viewer/entry_viewer_stack.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/viewer/entry_viewer_stack.dart
@@ -503,6 +503,9 @@ class _EntryViewerStackState extends State<EntryViewerStack> with SingleTickerPr
         () => IjkPlayerAvesVideoController(entry),
         (_) => _.dispose(),
       );
+      if (settings.enableVideoAutoPlay) {
+        _playVideo();
+      }
     }
     if (entry.isMultipage) {
       _initViewSpecificController<MultiPageController>(
@@ -516,6 +519,22 @@ class _EntryViewerStackState extends State<EntryViewerStack> with SingleTickerPr
     setState(() {});
   }
 
+  Future<void> _playVideo() async {
+    await Future.delayed(Duration(milliseconds: 300));
+
+    final entry = _entryNotifier.value;
+    if (entry == null) return;
+
+    final videoController = _videoControllers.firstWhere((kv) => kv.item1 == entry.uri, orElse: () => null)?.item2;
+    if (videoController != null) {
+      if (videoController.isPlayable) {
+        await videoController.play();
+      } else {
+        await videoController.setDataSource(entry.uri);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   void _initViewSpecificController<T>(String uri, List<Tuple2<String, T>> controllers, T Function() builder, void Function(T controller) disposer) {
     var controller = controllers.firstWhere((kv) => kv.item1 == uri, orElse: () => null);
     if (controller != null) {
diff --git a/lib/widgets/viewer/overlay/video.dart b/lib/widgets/viewer/overlay/video.dart
index 22fa53844..aeafd7123 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/viewer/overlay/video.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/viewer/overlay/video.dart
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class _VideoControlOverlayState extends State<VideoControlOverlay> with SingleTi
                             icon: AnimatedIcons.play_pause,
                             progress: _playPauseAnimation,
                           ),
-                          onPressed: _playPause,
+                          onPressed: _togglePlayPause,
                           tooltip: isPlaying ? context.l10n.viewerPauseTooltip : context.l10n.viewerPlayTooltip,
                         ),
                       ),
@@ -195,10 +195,16 @@ class _VideoControlOverlayState extends State<VideoControlOverlay> with SingleTi
     _updatePlayPauseIcon();
   }
 
-  Future<void> _playPause() async {
+  Future<void> _togglePlayPause() async {
     if (isPlaying) {
       await controller.pause();
-    } else if (isPlayable) {
+    } else {
+      await _play();
+    }
+  }
+
+  Future<void> _play() async {
+    if (isPlayable) {
       await controller.play();
     } else {
       await controller.setDataSource(entry.uri);
diff --git a/lib/widgets/viewer/visual/video.dart b/lib/widgets/viewer/visual/video.dart
index 488142ce8..5c809c6ce 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/viewer/visual/video.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/viewer/visual/video.dart
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import 'dart:ui';
 import 'package:aves/model/entry.dart';
 import 'package:aves/model/entry_images.dart';
 import 'package:aves/model/settings/settings.dart';
+import 'package:aves/theme/durations.dart';
 import 'package:aves/widgets/collection/collection_page.dart';
 import 'package:aves/widgets/common/video/controller.dart';
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
@@ -57,14 +58,24 @@ class _VideoViewState extends State<VideoView> {
   Widget build(BuildContext context) {
     if (controller == null) return SizedBox();
     return StreamBuilder<VideoStatus>(
-        stream: widget.controller.statusStream,
+        stream: controller.statusStream,
         builder: (context, snapshot) {
-          return controller?.isPlayable == true
-              ? controller.buildPlayerWidget(context, entry)
-              : Image(
+          return Stack(
+            fit: StackFit.expand,
+            children: [
+              if (controller.isPlayable) controller.buildPlayerWidget(context, entry),
+              // fade out image to ease transition with the player as it starts with a black texture
+              AnimatedOpacity(
+                opacity: controller.isPlayable ? 0 : 1,
+                curve: Curves.easeInCirc,
+                duration: Durations.viewerVideoPlayerTransition,
+                child: Image(
                   image: entry.getBestThumbnail(settings.getTileExtent(CollectionPage.routeName)),
-                  fit: BoxFit.contain,
-                );
+                  fit: BoxFit.fill,
+                ),
+              ),
+            ],
+          );
         });
   }
 
diff --git a/pubspec.lock b/pubspec.lock
index c0adf8864..1e8fb5f47 100644
--- a/pubspec.lock
+++ b/pubspec.lock
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ packages:
     description:
       path: "."
       ref: aves
-      resolved-ref: "8fcf94a57e2a77a79d255f4499e26503ad411769"
+      resolved-ref: "0f25874db46d1af6fcfbeb8722915cbc211a10fb"
       url: "git://github.com/deckerst/fijkplayer.git"
     source: git
     version: "0.8.7"