Following a period of uncertainty, Google has now finally begun rolling out support for Apple’s Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature on iPhone and iPad, and it’s not limited to paid subscribers.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- YouTube for iOS bringing PiP support to all users
- PiP used to be limited to Premium subscribers
- But now, non-subscribers can use PiP as well
- YouTube is rolling this out in the US first
YouTube PiP support is coming to all US users
With PiP, you can start watching something in the native YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad, then switch to another app and have the video continue playing in a PiP overlay. You can pinch the PiP window to make it bigger or smaller, send it to any screen corner or flick it outside screen boundaries to have only the video’s audio portion playing.
Google has confirmed that this change is now taking place.
With support for PiP, you can now finally start watching a video in YouTube’s native app for iPhone and iPad, then quit the app and have the video continue playing in a video overlay on top of all the other apps. You can make the PiP preview smaller or larger, position it to any screen corner or hide the video so you only hear its audio playing.
—YouTube spokesperson
This is a server-side change so no update is required to your installed YouTube app.
MacRumors has confirmed with Google that PiP support is currently being brought to all YouTube Premium subscribers on iOS and iPadOS in the US. The company will soon extend PiP support to all customers in the US, including both paying subscribers and non-subscribers.
This change only affects YouTube’s iOS app.
Previously, folks who prefer to browse youtube.com in a web browser on their iPhone and iPad were able to watch YouTube clips in PiP mode. However, the experience was inconsistent as Google would occasionally disable PiP functionality in web browsers.