How to play YouTube video in background on Android or iPhone?

Inarguably, YouTube is where most internet users go to watch videos and stream the latest songs. But, there are restrictions on how you can use YouTube. These restrictions aren’t so convenient and many users now seek ways to get around things by themselves; from downloading YouTube videos to play YouTube in background.

For example, you can’t play YouTube content in the background, however, unless you’re a premium subscriber. Well, most people using YouTube are all on the free version, yet they want to enjoy some level of flexibility; hence, here, I have provided a guide on how to play YouTube video in background.

How to Play YouTube video in Background on Android Devices

There are quite a couple of ways to play YouTube in background when you’re using an Android smartphone.

Method One: Activate PIP Mode

The YouTube mobile app for Android can play videos in PIP (Picture-in-Picture) mode. However, this feature is only available on devices that run Android 8.0 or later versions.

Steps:

• On your Android device, go to “Settings.” 
• Select “Apps & Notifications.”
• Tap “Advanced” at the bottom of the screen
• Select “Special app access” >>> “Picture-in-picture”
• Enable YouTube to support PIP mode 
• Return to YouTube mobile app, play any video, then minimize the app by pressing your device’s “Home” button

Method Two: Using Mobile Web Browsers 

This method works on Firefox and Google chrome browsers on Android and iOS devices.

• Open Youtube on Firefox or Chrome browser
• Click on the “More” icon and choose “view desktop mode” or “request desktop site.”
• Now you can open any other app on your phone and YouTube will still be playing; however, you will see a “YouTube Player Bar” when you drag down the notification panel. From there, you can play/pause the YouTube video you are playing.

   

How to Play YouTube in Background on iOS Devices

iPhone and iPad users can also play YouTube in background following the steps explained below. However, this requires a web browser (safari).

Step:

• Open Safari, go to youtube.com, and play the YouTube video or music
• Tap on the “AA” symbol on the  top-left corner of the screen
• In the drop-down menu, tap on “Request Desktop Website”
• Swipe up to close Safari browser (the YouTube content will stop playing)
• Pull down the Control Center from the top right of the screen and press the play button to start playing YouTube in background.

Summary:

Hopefully, this article has explained how to play YouTube video in background on Android and iOS devices. I won’t recommend using 3rd Party “play YouTube in background” applications; most of those apps do not actually play YouTube content in background, they are basically using the keyword for marketing. However, there a few of them that do play YouTube in background, an example is the DVDFab Downloader Mobile App.

Originally posted on December 12, 2020 @ 4:32 am