diff --git a/common/messages/de.json b/common/messages/de.json
index 314473e5..24356a2a 100644
--- a/common/messages/de.json
+++ b/common/messages/de.json
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@
   "languages.en": "Englisch",
   "languages.fr": "Französisch",
   "media.next": "Weiter",
+  "media.play_video": "Video abspielen",
   "media.previous": "Zurück",
   "messages.action.add_reaction": "Reaktion hinzufügen",
   "messages.action.delete": "Löschen",
@@ -1360,6 +1361,7 @@
   "profiles.loading_slow": "Noch am Starten — gleich geht's los…",
   "profiles.title": "Personen",
   "profiles.try_keyword_search": "Schlüsselwortsuche versuchen",
+  "referrals.link_label": "Dein Empfehlungslink",
   "referrals.title": "Lade jemanden ein, Compass beizutreten!",
   "register.agreement.and": " und ",
   "register.agreement.prefix": "Mit der Registrierung akzeptiere ich die ",
diff --git a/common/messages/fr.json b/common/messages/fr.json
index 3f93f2e4..fb5794b1 100644
--- a/common/messages/fr.json
+++ b/common/messages/fr.json
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@
   "languages.en": "Anglais",
   "languages.fr": "Français",
   "media.next": "Suivant",
+  "media.play_video": "Lire la vidéo",
   "media.previous": "Précédent",
   "messages.action.add_reaction": "Ajouter une réaction",
   "messages.action.delete": "Supprimer",
@@ -1359,6 +1360,7 @@
   "profiles.loading_slow": "Démarrage en cours — encore quelques secondes…",
   "profiles.title": "Personnes",
   "profiles.try_keyword_search": "Essayer une recherche par mot-clé",
+  "referrals.link_label": "Votre lien de parrainage",
   "referrals.title": "Invitez quelqu'un à rejoindre Compass !",
   "register.agreement.and": " et ",
   "register.agreement.prefix": "En vous inscrivant, j'accepte les ",
diff --git a/web/components/editor/video.tsx b/web/components/editor/video.tsx
index c2a9601c..eaf0fbd6 100644
--- a/web/components/editor/video.tsx
+++ b/web/components/editor/video.tsx
@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@ import clsx from 'clsx'
 import Video from 'common/util/tiptap-video'
 import {useState} from 'react'
 import {MediaModal} from 'web/components/media-modal'
+import {firstFrameSrc, VideoThumbnail} from 'web/components/widgets/video-thumbnail'
 
 export const BasicVideo = Video.extend({
-  renderReact: (attrs: any) => <video src={attrs.src} controls preload="metadata" />,
+  // Controls are their own play affordance here; the fragment is what keeps the frame behind them
+  // from being blank.
+  renderReact: (attrs: any) => <video src={firstFrameSrc(attrs.src)} controls preload="metadata" />,
 })
 
 export const DisplayVideo = Video.extend({
@@ -21,16 +24,10 @@ function ExpandingVideo(props: {src: string; size?: 'md'}) {
 
   return (
     <>
-      <video
-        {...rest}
-        muted
-        playsInline
-        preload="metadata"
+      <VideoThumbnail
+        src={rest.src}
         onClick={() => setExpanded(true)}
-        className={clsx(
-          'cursor-pointer object-contain',
-          size === 'md' ? 'max-h-[400px]' : 'h-[128px]',
-        )}
+        className={clsx(size === 'md' ? 'max-h-[400px]' : 'h-[128px]')}
       />
       <MediaModal url={rest.src} open={expanded} setOpen={setExpanded} />
     </>
diff --git a/web/components/widgets/editor.tsx b/web/components/widgets/editor.tsx
index 71b8fb15..1aee3110 100644
--- a/web/components/widgets/editor.tsx
+++ b/web/components/widgets/editor.tsx
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import {DisplayMention} from '../editor/user-mention/mention-extension'
 import {BasicVideo, DisplayVideo} from '../editor/video'
 import {Linkify} from './linkify'
 import {linkClass} from './site-link'
+import {VideoThumbnail} from './video-thumbnail'
 
 const DisplayLink = Link.extend({
   renderHTML({HTMLAttributes}) {
@@ -496,20 +497,12 @@ function recurse(
       )
     case 'video':
       return (
-        <button
+        <VideoThumbnail
           key={key}
-          type="button"
+          src={node.attrs?.src ?? ''}
           onClick={() => onMediaClick?.(node.attrs?.src ?? '')}
-          className="cursor-pointer"
-        >
-          <video
-            src={node.attrs?.src}
-            muted
-            playsInline
-            preload="metadata"
-            className={size === 'sm' ? 'max-h-32' : size === 'md' ? 'max-h-64' : undefined}
-          />
-        </button>
+          className={size === 'sm' ? 'max-h-32' : size === 'md' ? 'max-h-64' : undefined}
+        />
       )
     case 'table':
       return (
diff --git a/web/components/widgets/video-thumbnail.tsx b/web/components/widgets/video-thumbnail.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7a46114f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/components/widgets/video-thumbnail.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import {PlayIcon} from '@heroicons/react/24/solid'
+import clsx from 'clsx'
+import {useT} from 'web/lib/locale'
+
+/**
+ * A video shown as a still cover frame with a play affordance.
+ *
+ * Nothing plays in place here, so the element paints only what the browser has decoded:
+ * `preload="metadata"` on its own leaves Chrome and the Android WebView with an empty grey box.
+ * The `#t=` media fragment asks for the frame at that timestamp, and the seek on loadedmetadata
+ * covers the browsers that load the metadata but ignore the fragment.
+ */
+export function VideoThumbnail(props: {src: string; className?: string; onClick?: () => void}) {
+  const {src, className, onClick} = props
+  const t = useT()
+
+  return (
+    <button
+      type="button"
+      onClick={onClick}
+      aria-label={t('media.play_video', 'Play video')}
+      className="relative inline-block cursor-pointer align-middle leading-none"
+    >
+      <video
+        src={firstFrameSrc(src)}
+        muted
+        playsInline
+        preload="metadata"
+        onLoadedMetadata={(e) => {
+          const el = e.currentTarget
+          // Only nudge a video parked at the very start: a fragment the browser did honour has
+          // already moved it, and re-seeking would throw that frame away.
+          if (el.currentTime === 0) el.currentTime = FIRST_FRAME_TIME
+        }}
+        className={clsx('object-contain', className)}
+      />
+      <span className="pointer-events-none absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center">
+        <span className="flex h-10 w-10 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-black/50 ring-1 ring-white/50">
+          <PlayIcon className="ml-0.5 h-5 w-5 text-white" />
+        </span>
+      </span>
+    </button>
+  )
+}
+
+/** Not 0: a request for exactly the start is what a browser showing a blank poster already did. */
+const FIRST_FRAME_TIME = 0.001
+
+/** Media fragment asking the browser to show the opening frame rather than an empty box. */
+export function firstFrameSrc(src: string) {
+  return src.includes('#') ? src : `${src}#t=${FIRST_FRAME_TIME}`
+}