It’s simple to locate guides, TV episodes, and even the most recent music videos on YouTube, making it one of the most versatile multimedia platforms in the world. In addition to watching videos, though, listening to YouTube can be a great way to multitask on your phone.
If you want to keep a video playing in the background after you’ve closed the YouTube app, you’ll need to use one of a few simple workarounds that are available for both iOS and Android. In fact, there are methods to have a miniature pop-up YouTube player appear in another tab. Here’s how to set up background YouTube playback on your iOS or Android device.
The Steps to Take to Have YouTube Premium Videos Playing in The Background
YouTube Premium is a paid service that removes adverts across all YouTube platforms, gives subscribers early access to new uploads, and enables offline viewing. In addition, and most importantly for our needs, you can keep YouTube playing in the background even if you go to a different app or turn off your phone’s screen. If you have YouTube Premium, you don’t even need to activate this feature; it’s already activated automatically.
As an added bonus, YouTube Premium subscribers may listen to music videos without interruptions from ads in the YouTube Music app and even turn off the screen while they listen. The question naturally arises, “So, what’s the catch?” It’s monetary value, as one could guess.
YouTube Premium costs $12 per month or $23 per month for a family subscription for up to six people, with a free trial available for the first month. There is an app for both Android and iOS that allows you to watch videos on YouTube.
Although the additional expense is undesirable, this is the most hassle-free approach to having YouTube play in the background on an iPhone or Android device.
Tutorial on How to Have YouTube Videos Play in The Background (iPhone Browsers)
What, though, if you don’t want to shell out the money for YouTube Premium but still want to view videos in the background on your iPhone? The role of web browsers becomes clear in this context.
YouTube doesn’t allow you to mute the screen while still listening to the audio, but you can get around this with Safari and Chrome by using Apple’s Control Center. You may use this technique with the iPhone versions of Firefox and Opera, but you should also try it with the iPhone version of the browser you like.
Tutorial on How to Have YouTube Videos Play in The Background (android Browsers)
The same method described above for the iPhone also works in Firefox to play YouTube videos in the background on an Android device. Although we only tried it in Firefox, it may also function in other, more compact browsers. As Chrome no longer supports this feature, it is highly unlikely to work on any Chrome-based browser.
In-Picture Mode on YouTube for Android: How To Utilise It
Since it’s not actually an app, this one seems like a bit of a cheat. Android’s “picture-in-picture mode” has been available ever since version 8.0 Oreo, allowing you to keep watching YouTube in a small window even if you switch apps. You can reposition this window wherever you like and press it to make it bigger or access the media player.
Picture-in-picture on YouTube was formerly only available to Premium users, however as of 2018, anyone in the United States can access it without a paid subscription. Music, however, is not included and will still require payment.
Identifying the Android version on your phone is typically straightforward. To check your Android version, head to Settings > About phone. Android 8.0 Oreo is required for this function, and given it was released over five years ago, it’s possible that you already have this version of Android installed on your phone, or one that runs an even newer version of Android.
What Is the I Phone’s Picture-In-Picture Mode for YouTube and How Do I Utilise It?
Additionally, all YouTube Premium subscribers with an iPhone can use picture-in-picture mode. Non-Premium users in the United States can also make use of this service. Thus, even if you don’t have Premium, you may watch videos on YouTube in a pop-up window on your iPhone in the United States even while the app is closed. Simply press the play button and return to your homepage; there’s nothing else to it.
