YouTube is the ultimate video-sharing website on the planet. On this platform, you can share unlimited number of videos as well as like, share, subscribe to channels, and more. To make the experience better for you, YouTube continuously adds some cool features to make watching videos more fun. But, there’s one thing that it lacks which is the ability to play videos in the background on smartphones. No matter how expensive your smartphone is, you won’t be able to play Youtube videos in the background unless you’re buying its subscription plan: YouTube Premium.
Related: 40+ YouTube Tricks and Tips Everyone Should Know
YouTube is the world’s second most popular website after Google. There are plenty of great videos to watch. Sometimes you want to play a video while walking around or doing something else. Unfortunately, YouTube (free version) doesn’t allow anyone to watch videos in the background on their phone, whether it’s an iPhone or Android. However, In this how-to article, we’re going to explain how you can play YouTube videos in Background on Android and iPhone without purchasing premium plans. Keep reading below for instructions on how to do that!
Play Videos in Background on Android (Using Chrome)
Fortunately, it’s easy to play videos in the Background on your Android, iPhone or tablet without purchasing a premium subscription. Here’s how do it in Android first:
Step 1: Launch the Chrome Browser app on your Android phone.
Step 2: Next, visit the official YouTube website by searching the URL “Youtube.com” from the top bar.
Step 3: Now open and play the video you want to play in the background.
Step 4: Then tap on three vertical dots from the top right corner and select Desktop site.
Step 5: Press the home button (or swipe up) and back to homescreen. (Make sure the video is playing when you tap on home button).
Step 6: Lastly, open the quick panel by sliding down and you’ll see player controls. Just click on the Play/Pause button to play the video in the background.
Read more: 10 Best Live Streaming Apps For Android and iOS
Play Videos in Background on Android (Using Firefox)
Chrome is a good option if you want to play videos in the background. But as soon as you turn off the screen of your smartphone, the video will go off too. This is a huge problem with Chrome. Here you can use the Mozilla Firefox browser to play videos in the background even when the screen is turned off. Follow the instructions step by step to know how to do it using Firefox:
Step 1: Open Firefox on your Android phone and visit the “Youtube.com” website.
Step 2: Next, search and open the video you want to play in the background.
Step 3: Afterward, tap on the three vertical dots from the bottom right corner and toggle on desktop site.
Step 4: Start playing your video.
Step 5: Then exit Firefox by tapping on the home button or swiping up on the screen. You can play or pause the music directly from the quick panel or lock screen.
Read more: 11 Free Apps That Actually Can Improve Your Life
Play Videos in Background on iPhone (With Safari)
Just like on Android phones, you can use any browser to play Youtube videos in the background on your iPhone device. First, let’s know how to do it with the default iPhone browser.
Step 1: Go to the Safari browser on your iPhone and open YouTube’s official website. Try typing “Youtube.com” manually in the URL bar, otherwise, it might redirect you to YouTube’s app.
Step 2: Search and open a video that you want to play in the background.
Step 3: Then click on the “aA” icon in the top left corner under the address bar. Tap Website Settings and toggle on Request Desktop Website.
Step 4: Start playing the video.
Step 5: Swipe up to back on your home screen and the video will stop playing.
Step 6: Open your iPhone’s Control Center and you’ll see a music player control box right up there. Just click on the Play/Pause icon to play the video in the background.
Play Videos in Background on iPhone (With Firefox)
Similar to Android, Safari can’t play Youtube videos in the background when your iPhone’s screen is turned off. Again, you can use Firefox as an alternative browser that is capable of doing that. Here’s how
Step 1: Open Mozilla Firefox on your iPhone.
Step 2: Go to the URL bar and search YouTube.com.
Step 3: Search and open a YouTube Video.
Step 4: Click on the vertical 3-dot from the bottom right corner.
Step 5: Toggle the Desktop site option to turn on.
Step 6: Exit Firefox without force closing the app. (Video must continue playing)
Step 7: Open the iPhone’s control center and use the control buttons to play the music of a video even when the screen is turned off.
Read more: 15 Best Music Player Apps For Android
Using Picture-in-Picture Mode (Android and iPhone)
Picture-in-picture mode is a useful feature for watching videos on your smartphone or tablet. It shrinks a Youtube video into a small window as you switch to another app or press the home button. This way you can watch the videos and multitask at the same time.
To enable PiP mode on YouTube for Android devices, open the Quick panel and go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Special app access > Picture-in-picture > Tap YouTube > tap Allow picture-in-picture to turn on. Next, open the YouTube app on your Android > Click on the Profile icon > tap Settings > General > Toggle Picture-in-Picture to on.
For iPhones or other iOS-based devices, just go to YouTube Settings > General > Enable Picture-in-picture mode option.
Try Apps that play YouTube in Background
There are a few apps available in the market such as Floating Tube, OG YouTube, etc that are capable of playing YouTube videos in the background of your smartphone. However, YouTube Vanced offers the best features. Unfortunately, it is not available for iOS devices.
YouTube Vanced is a free app available on XDA for free. It is basically a free version of YouTube premium with a few more customization options. Read this full article to know more: How to Install YouTube Vanced [Root or Non-Root].
Conclusion
While YouTube is great for watching videos on your phone or tablet, playing them in the background can be difficult. We’ve shown you how to easily play YouTube videos in the background on Android and iPhone. I hope these tips will help you. We’ll see you in another tutorial.
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