YouTube reportedly testing Picture in Picture for its iOS app

Some users are reporting seeing support in the latest YouTube app update for Picture in Picture on iPhone and iPad, allowing viewers to use other apps while continuing to watch.

After finally revamping its Apple TV app to play 4K videos, YouTube appears to now be also updating its iOS version. While the feature appears to currently only be in testing, some users are seeing the iPhone and iPad YouTube app supporting Picture in Picture for the first time.

Picture in Picture working on iPadOS with the YouTube app.

(But only worked with this live stream, there must be some codec trickery happening behind the scenes for certain playback scenarios). pic.twitter.com/75vG7Ai4ln
— Daniel Yount (@dyountmusic) August 27, 2020

Although PiP has been available on iPads since iOS 9 in 2015, it has not worked with YouTube videos. Now as Apple brings PiP to the iPhone with iOS 14, YouTube appears to be planning to support it.

However, even Twitter user Daniel Yount who spotted the feature has not been able to make it work consistently. He found it during a live stream and has not, so far, seen it working with any other YouTube content.

Daniel Yount's tweet was first spotted by 9to5mac.

YouTube has not commented on when the feature will be made available. Even when the feature is out of testing, it's likely to only be made available for YouTube Premium subscribers.

5 Comments

gerard 11 Years · 83 comments

About 4 years ago

I love this feature; it works great. It also works on ESPN

dhawkins541 11 Years · 107 comments

What? It works fine on the iPad if you cross Googles pay barrier. Also, on the iPhone if you pay as well, but until recently it would just play in the background audio but now with iOS 14 we've got PIP. This writer needs to clarify this or something.

mazda 3s 16 Years · 1598 comments

dhawkins541 said:

What? It works fine on the iPad if you cross Googles pay barrier. Also, on the iPhone if you pay as well, but until recently it would just play in the background audio but now with iOS 14 we've got PIP. This writer needs to clarify this or something.

The story is talking about with the app, not with YouTube in Safari. I don't know about you, but I access YouTube primarily with the app on my iPhone.

StrangeDays 8 Years · 12986 comments

mazda 3s said:

dhawkins541 said:

What? It works fine on the iPad if you cross Googles pay barrier. Also, on the iPhone if you pay as well, but until recently it would just play in the background audio but now with iOS 14 we've got PIP. This writer needs to clarify this or something.

The story is talking about with the app, not with YouTube in Safari. I don't know about you, but I access YouTube primarily with the app on my iPhone.

So he is. In the iOS app version of the YT player Google specifically hamstrung its background-playing feature to paying-users only.

mazda 3s said:

dhawkins541 said:

What? It works fine on the iPad if you cross Googles pay barrier. Also, on the iPhone if you pay as well, but until recently it would just play in the background audio but now with iOS 14 we've got PIP. This writer needs to clarify this or something.

The story is talking about with the app, not with YouTube in Safari. I don't know about you, but I access YouTube primarily with the app on my iPhone.

Yeah with the app on both iphone and iPad you can play it in PIP/background with YouTube premium that's been that way for a long time. Aka a charge per month. I'm not saying that they may not be changing their policy to have it work for everyone to say it doesn't now is an error.

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