How to play YouTube in background iPhone 2022

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(Pocket-lint) - On iPhone, most music apps let you play music in the background. After all, they'd be virtually useless if they couldn't. For video apps that's not the case which - again - makes sense, since you can't watch videos with your iPhone locked and the phone in standby. 

With YouTube, the app is a sort-of two-in-one platform that offers videos and, with that, music videos which is a surprisingly popular way to consume music these days. You can find podcast episodes and concerts on there too. 

• YouTube's music streaming service explained

Now, YouTube does let you use its video app to play music in the background but there's a caveat: you need to be a Premium subscriber in order to take advantage of that feature. Of course, you can use the YouTube Music app, but again, you need to be a subscriber for that too. 

Thankfully, there's a workaround that enables you to play music from YouTube videos for free, in the background, and it's really not difficult to do. Watch our quick video below or follow the written guide underneath. 

How to play YouTube music in the background on iPhone

The trick is to use your phone's default browser, Safari: 

• Open Safari and go to 'YouTube.com'
• Now search for the music video you want to listen to
• Tap the 'Aa' icon in the address/search bar
• Choose 'request desktop site' from the drop down menu
• Hit 'play' on your video

At this point when you go back to your home screen, or lock your phone, the music will stop becuase the video stops playing. However, you can easily get it playing again, without going back to the browser. 

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• Drop down Control Center (or pull it up from the bottom if you have an iPhone with TouchID)
• Find the music playback widget
• It should have the song track labelled on it from the browser
• Hit the play button

Once you've done that and you drop down Control Centre, you should see the option to play the music again. Once it's playing, you can lock your phone, and play and pause it from the lockscreen control or just go about your business using other apps on the phone. 

To play it while the phone is locked, just lock your phone and you should see a music widget control on the lock screen. Tap play on that and music continues in the background. 

It's worth noting, if you're in a playlist or queue, it doesn't seem to automatically continue to the next song, so you do need to re-open Safari to choose a new song when one ends. Thankfully, YouTube is full of long compilations and live concerts, and you can easily find 'videos' over an hour long. 

Writing by Cam Bunton.

YouTube announced last June that Picture-in-Picture (PiP) was coming to its iPhone and iPad apps, and wide availability is now just a few days away for Premium subscribers globally and free users in the United States.

How to use it: Simply select a YouTube video to watch and then leave the YouTube app (by swiping up from the bottom of your screen, or pressing the home button). The video will continue to play in a mini player, which you can move across your device’s screen as you use other apps. 

Two months after last year’s announcement, Google let YouTube Premium subscribers manually enable the feature. That test ended in April of 2022, and the company was mum about PiP’s availability after that.

YouTube is now ready to widely launch Picture-in-Picture support “over the next several days” for devices running iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or higher.

We recognize this has been a slow roll out for a highly requested feature, and want to thank everyone who shared feedback during experiments (including recently on youtube.com/new), and waited patiently for this moment! 

Once rolled out to your phone or tablet, there will be a “Picture-in-picture” toggle under Settings > General, while YouTube Premium will still offer background play where you just hear audio without any video. It’s not live on several devices we checked today.

YouTube PiP availability

In terms of availability, all paying YouTube Premium members on iPhone and iPad around the world “will have access to PiP for all content, (both music and non-music).”

To turn on the feature, go to Settings > General in your YouTube app and turn-on Picture-in-picture. If you don’t turn on PiP, you’ll still be able to use background play by default (based on your feedback from our experiments)!

In the United States, PiP is available to free users but only for “non-music content,” while advertising will continue to show.

More on YouTube:

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Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Can you play YouTube in the background on iPhone?

Yes, you can play YouTube in the background on your iPhone. To do this, open the YouTube app and play the video you want to listen to. Then press the Home button and open another app or turn on your screen lock. The audio from the YouTube video will continue playing in the background.

Can you watch YouTube on iPhone while using other apps?

Yes, you can watch YouTube on iPhone while using other apps. To do so, open the YouTube app and then press the Home button to return to the home screen. You can then use other apps while the YouTube video plays in the background.

How can I watch YouTube on my iPhone while browsing?

There are a few ways to watch YouTube on your iPhone while browsing. One way is to open the YouTube app and then press the home button to leave the app and return to your browser. Another way is to use Picture in Picture mode. To do this, open the YouTube app and play a video. Then press the home button and drag the video up to the top of the screen. The video will now play in a small window at the top of your screen while you browse.

How do I get YouTube app to play in the background?

You can’t play YouTube videos in the background on an iPhone, but you can listen to music on YouTube while doing other things on your phone. Just open the YouTube app and select the music video you want to listen to. Then press the home button and do something else on your phone. The music will keep playing.

How do I listen to YouTube with 2021 screen off?

There are a few ways to listen to YouTube with your screen off. One way is to use the Google Home app. Open the Google Home app and tap the menu in the top left corner. Then, tap “More settings” and select “YouTube settings.” Under “Background playback,” turn on “Autoplay videos.”
Another way to listen to YouTube with your screen off is to use an extension like TubeMate.

How do I listen to YouTube without being on the app?

There are a few ways to listen to YouTube without being on the app. One way is to open the website in a browser on your computer or phone. Another way is to use a third-party app like YouTube Music or Spotify.

How can I play YouTube in the background of my iPhone 2021?

There are a few ways to play YouTube videos in the background of your iPhone. One way is to use an app like YouTube++, which allows you to play videos in the background. Another way is to use Safari and enable the “Play in Background” setting.

How do you get YouTube to play in the background on IOS 14?

There is no built-in way to play YouTube videos in the background on iOS 14, but there are a few workarounds. One is to use an app like YouTube++, which allows you to play videos in the background. Another is to use a web browser like Safari or Chrome and open the YouTube website, then press the “Home” button to leave the app and have the video continue playing in the background.

How do I minimize YouTube on iPhone ios 15?

There are a few ways to minimize YouTube on your iPhone. One way is to press the home button twice and then swipe left or right to find the YouTube app. Another way is to go to Settings and select General. Under Usage, you will find the YouTube app. You can then select “Show On Home Screen” to remove the app from your home screen.

How do I minimize YouTube app on iPhone?

To minimize the YouTube app on your iPhone, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center. Then, tap the Airplane Mode icon to turn it on. This will disable all of your phone’s wireless features and reduce the YouTube app to a small window at the top of the screen.

How do I watch YouTube while using another app?

There are a few ways to watch YouTube while using another app. One way is to open the YouTube app and then press the home button to switch to another app. Another way is to use the picture-in-picture mode. To do this, open the YouTube app and then press the square button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

How do I watch YouTube while in another app?

There are a few ways to watch YouTube while in another app. One way is to open the YouTube app and then press the home button to exit the app. This will keep the YouTube app open in the background. Another way is to use picture-in-picture mode. To use picture-in-picture mode, open the YouTube app and then press the home button. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the app switcher.

How do you watch YouTube and multitask on iPhone?

There are a few different ways that you can watch YouTube videos on your iPhone while multitasking. One way is to use the Picture in Picture feature. This feature allows you to watch a video in a small window while you are doing other things on your phone. To use this feature, open the YouTube app and find the video that you want to watch. Tap the three dots in the top right corner of the video and select “Picture in Picture.

How do I play YouTube in audio mode?

To play YouTube in audio mode, you can either use the website or an app. On the website, click on the three lines in the top left corner of the video, and select “Audio Only.” On the app, tap on the three lines in the top left corner of the video, and select “Audio.

How do you put a YouTube video in the corner of your iPhone screen?

There are a few ways to do this. One way is to use AirPlay to mirror your iPhone screen to a TV or other device that has YouTube on it. Another way is to use an app like YouTube++, which allows you to watch YouTube videos in a small window while you use other apps.