YouTube is one of the most used video streaming platforms around the globe. People use it for all kinds of things, from streaming songs to watching recipes to watching a review of automobiles and smartphones. Hence, it is no surprise that it has become really big. And with each passing day, the popularity and the content on YouTube is growing at a rapid pace.
As a matter of fact, we already have enough content on YouTube that it will take us several lifetimes to watch everything. However, there is a major drawback of using YouTube; video streaming cannot be done in the background. YouTube doesn’t provide you with a direct option to do so, at least for the free users (Those not subscribed to Youtube Premium). We all have imagined sometimes what would have been the case if we could stream videos on YouTube when it is minimized.
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Luckily, there are ways that can help you play YouTube videos in the background. In this piece, we are going to talk about some of the methods that can help you stream videos on YouTube even when it is minimized. So, dive in to learn everything there’s to understand how to play YouTube videos in the background.
How to play YouTube in the background?
As of right now, we can choose between smartphones that run on the iOS or Android operating systems. And, as you may already be aware, there are significant differences between the two smartphone operating systems in question. Something that works on Android may not work on iOS, and the same is true in the other direction as well. In fact, this is exactly what occurs the majority of the time. Having said that, it’s possible that the same method will work on both smartphones, albeit with minor modifications.
Here are a few methods that will help you to play YouTube videos in the background.
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Method 1: Play YouTube Videos In Background via Desktop Mode
This might be the easiest way to play YouTube videos in the background. You just need to have Google Chrome installed on your phone. Once you have the Chrome web browser on your phone, just stick to the following steps.
Step 1: Go to Google Chrome, and type https://m.youtube.com. This link will open the mobile version of YouTube on your phone. Plus, it will ensure that YouTube is running in the browser only since it is essential to stay in the browser to play YouTube videos in the background.
Step 2: Click on the three verticals in the upper right corner of your Google Chrome and select Desktop from the drop-down menu.
Step 3: Once the site refreshes, play any video of your choice and then switch to another app, and the video will stop streaming.
Step 4: Swipe down to access the control centre of your phone. You will see your stopped video in a tray. Click on Play.
Now, even if you turn off your screen or access any other application installed on your phone, the YouTube video will keep on streaming on your device, but as the screen is off only the audio will be played. To get a full background experience where you can watch Youtube videos while you multitask, you can follow Method 2 to enable the Picture-in-Picture mode.
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Method 2: Use Picture-in-Picture mode
Picture-in-picture (PiP) is a relatively new feature on Android smartphones. It is especially for multitasking and is available on Android 8.0 Oreo and later versions. Stick to the following steps to use the PiP feature to play YouTube videos in the background.
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Step 1: Go to the Settings and click on Apps.
Step 2: From the list of applications, click on YouTube.
Step 3: Now on selecting the app, click on “Picture-in-Picture” under advanced settings.
Step 3: From the menu, select Allowed under Picture-in-Picture.
With the Picture-in-Picture mode enabled on your device, the YouTube video will appear in a small window on your screen, on top of other applications. For instance, once you press the home button, the YouTube app will automatically get minimized, and it will appear in a small window.
Notably, certain features of the PiP mode are only available for YouTube Premium members. Besides, you need to have the latest version of YouTube installed on your device to use this feature.
The Picture-in-Picture mode works both on Android and iOS devices unless if you have a subscription to YouTube premium.
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Method 3: YouTube Vanced APK [Non-Root]
Using the renowned modded version of YouTube- YouTube Vanced is another excellent way of accessing premium features of YouTube, including to play YouTube videos in the background for free without having a Youtube Premium membership. Likewise, it brings several other features like adblocker, dark themes, high-resolution audio playback, and more.
Also Read: What Is YouTube Vanced – How To Get Youtube Premium for Free?
You can install the Youtube Vanced app on your Android smartphone just like you sideload any apk. The download links are below. Also, this guide is only applicable to Android users as iOS does not allow the installation of any third-party apps. The Youtube Vanced app is not available on Google Play Store for obvious reasons but the apk is completely safe to use.
Download Youtube Vanced For Android: ApkPure
Except for the third method, a Youtube Premium membership is mandatory to run Youtube videos in Picture-in-Picture mode. This is the USP of premium membership as the premium membership has nothing much to offer. Also, the subscribed users will have unlimited ad-free access to YouTube videos, which they can consistently play YouTube videos in background.
For now, YouTube is offering three different kinds of subscriptions, which are essentially the same with a slight difference- YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, YouTube Music Premium.
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Playing videos with Firefox (Android)
When you want to play YouTube videos in the background on Android, you can do so in Firefox in the same way as above for iOS. Firefox is one of the browsers we’ve tried this with, but it could also work with other, smaller browsers. The problem is that Chrome no longer lets you choose this as an option. This means it won’t work on any browsers that use Chrome as a base, because Chrome no longer allows this.
Step 1: Open Firefox and go to YouTube. In the URL field, make sure to type “youtube.com.” If you tap YouTube in Google search results, it will usually open the YouTube app.
Step 2. Find the background video you want to play.
Step 3: Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of the window to go to the Settings menu. After, click the Request Desktop Site button.
Step 4: Start watching the video, and then swipe up to close your web page.
Conclusion
There is no denying the fact that YouTube is undoubtedly one of the biggest video streaming platforms on the internet. On top of that, it is expected to grow at the same rate, if not at a faster rate. However, being a video streaming platform, it cannot play YouTube videos in the background without Premium Membership. That said, there are methods that can actually do the tricks to play YouTube videos in the background for both iOS and Android devices.
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