iOS 16.3.1 broke video playback in Safari

Hello,

Ever since updating to iOS 16.3.1 upon release, I am having video playback issues in Safari.

What happens is that the video image freezes and the sound stops, but the video timer keeps going as if the video was still playing. Sometimes it happens after a few minutes and sometimes after a few seconds, both on embedded videos and also when I try watching directly on the YouTube website.

At first I thought it may have been an issue with T-Mobile service. That does not seem to be the case because I installed the YouTube app and viewing videos through the app works fine. However, I really prefer using the browser to watch videos as opposed to the app.

I also considered that it may be a YouTube problem, but after testing that theory, I found that it also happens with Rumble, Vimeo, and BitChute.

I already tried the common fixes, such as clearing all Safari data, restarting the phone (iPhone 14 Plus), and switching in and out of airplane mode.

Is this a known issue? Is anyone else experiencing it?

I assumed that it would be something that gets fixed within a few days, but it is now a month later and it still persists.

Thank you for any help.