This article explains How to play YouTube in the Background on Your Phone while you work on your mobile. Although this functionality was present in its various apps, YouTube decided to reserve this particular functionality for paying subscribers of its streaming services. YouTube: YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. We show you some ways to circumvent the limitation.
- On Android, you can use the desktop version of Youtube in a chrome browser to play videos in the background.
- If you have Android 8.0 or lateruse Picture-in-Picture (PiP) by going to Settings > Applications > YouTube. Select Allowed in PiP.
- on iOSdownload Dolphin for iOS or Opera for iOS, then go to the YouTube website and play your video.
Any solution that allows YouTube to play in the background could be gone at any moment while YouTube works out how to come full circle. If you depend on this, you will have to subscribe to YouTube services. An alternative is to download the videos to your device and avoid the YouTube app altogether.
Use Android desktop mode
An easy way to get YouTube to play in the background is to use the desktop version of YouTube in your Chrome browser. Is that how it works.
- Opens Chrome, and enter https://m. youtube.com to find the mobile version of YouTube.
Write a m in front of the YouTube URL, https://m.youtube.com , ensures that you will stay inside the browser to access YouTube. It’s important to stay in the browser and not jump into the YouTube app if you want YouTube to play in the background. - Find the video you want to play. Once you have found the video, touch the three vertical dots at the top right of the screen to select Desk .
- Once the site updates, press the start button to play the video. Switch apps or put your screen in silent mode and the video will stop.
- Swipe down to get to the control center and find the video in your settings. Press play .
- Turn off the screen or switch to another app and YouTube will continue to play.
Picture-in-Picture view in Android
Designed to help you multitask, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) is a feature available on smartphones Android with Android 8.0 Oreos and later versions. Here’s how to use PiP to play YouTube videos in the background.
PiP mode for videos containing music content is only available for members of YouTube Premium, which is explained later in this post. You must also have the latest version of YouTube installed on your device.
- Activate PiP by going to Setting on your smartphone or tablet.
- I touched Applications .
- Scroll down to find the YouTube app and tap Youtube. At the bottom, select Permitted in picture in picture .
- To enable PiP, start playing a video within the YouTube app and press the start button . The YouTube video will appear in a small window on your screen, which you can move around with your finger. The video will continue to play while you open other applications.
Avoid the YouTube app
writing a m in front of the YouTube URL, https://m. Youtube. It’s important that you stay in the browser and don’t jump into the YouTube app if you want YouTube to play in the background.
- Find the video you want to play. Once you’ve found the video, tap the three vertical dots at the top right of the screen to select Desktop.
- Once the site updates, tap the button of inicio to play the video. Switch apps, or put your screen in silent mode, and the video will stop.
- Swipe down to get to the hub from controland find the video in your settings. Press play.
- Turn off your screen or switch to another app, and YouTube will continue to play.
Picture-in-Picture view to play YouTube videos in the background
Designed to help you multitask, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) is a feature available on Android smartphones running Android 8.0 Oreos and later versions. Here we explain how use PiP to play YouTube videos on background.
It is not a music player
PiP mode for videos with music content is only available to members of YouTube Premium, which is explained later in this post. You must also have the latest version of YouTube installed on your device.
- Activate PiP by going to Settings on your smartphone or tablet.
- Press Applications.
- Scroll down to find the YouTube app and tap YouTube. At the bottom, select Allowed in Picture in picture.
- To enable PiP, start playing a video within the YouTube app and tap the home button. The YouTube video will appear in a small window on your screen, which you can scroll with your finger. The video will continue to play while you open other applications.
Use an alternative browser to play YouTube in the background
Although the PiP feature is not available on YouTube for iOS devices without a subscription, you can play YouTube videos in the background on your iPhone or tablet using an alternative browser, such as Opera and Dolphin.
- Download Dolphin for iOS or Opera for iOS.
- Once downloaded, open the browser. Type https://m. YouTube.Com in the search bar to find the YouTube site.
- Find the video you want to play on YouTube within the browser.
Don’t use the YouTube app
It is important that you remain in the version mobile from Youtube within the browser, and do not click on any YouTube links that take you to the YouTube app on your device. https://m will appear at the top of the search bar.
- Play the video. Once the video starts, switch to another app or put your screen to sleep. The video will stop.
- Swipe to find the music player and check if your video title is displayed there.
Sometimes iOS defaults the media player in your music library to the music player, instead of the video. If this happens, simply go back to the YouTube video in Opera or Dolphin, and hit play again to clear the music player so it defaults to YouTube.
- Once the title of your video appears in the control center, press play to play the video.
- Put your phone back to sleep, or switch apps, and the video will continue to play.
YouTube subscription
If you want unlimited access to YouTube videos that are constantly playing in the background, you’ll need to purchase a YouTube subscription. YouTube offers two subscription services.
YouTube Premium (formerly known as Red) lets you play videos in the background and comes with access to original video content for $11.99 per month. YouTube Music is a music streaming service that allows you to play YouTube videos in the background for $9.99 per month.
