YouTube Premium Subscribers Can Now Use iOS Picture-in-Picture: Here's How

Google has rolled out picture-in-picture support as an "experimental" feature for YouTube premium subscribers, allowing them to watch video in a small window when the app is closed.

YouTube Picture in Picture Feature
If you're a premium YouTube subscriber looking to try out picture-in-picture, follow these steps:

  1. Launch a web browser and sign into your YouTube account at YouTube.com.
  2. Navigate to www.youtube.com/new.
  3. Scroll down to "Picture-in-picture on iOS".
  4. Click "Try it out."

Now, when you're in the YouTube app watching a video, return to your Home Screen by swiping up/pressing the Home button, and the picture-in-picture mini player will pop up. Google notes that locking your phone when watching in picture-in-picture mode will pause the video, but you can resume it by using the Lock Screen media controls.

youtube picture in picture
Google in June announced that picture-in-picture support would be rolling out to both premium and non-paying YouTube app users in the U.S., but some people outside the U.S. have been able to get the experimental feature working, so it could be globally available.

  • How to Use Picture in Picture Mode on iPhone

However, Google says the feature is only available until October 31. The company doesn't explain what happens after that, but hopefully that's when support rolls out to both paying subscribers and non-paying users, as originally promised. Whether it will still be available globally outside of its "experimental" context remains to be seen, though.

(Via 9to5Google.)

Related Stories

YouTube Says iOS Picture-in-Picture Coming to All US Users

Friday June 18, 2021 9:41 am PDT by Sami Fathi

After a long wait, YouTube for iOS is officially gaining picture-in-picture support, allowing all users, non-premium and premium subscribers, to close the YouTube app and continue watching their video in a small pop-up window. In a statement to MacRumors, YouTube says that picture-in-picture is currently rolling out to all premium subscribers on iOS and that a larger rollout to all US iOS...

Tweetbot 6 for iOS Gains Revamped Video Player With Picture in Picture Support

Tuesday April 6, 2021 2:55 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Popular Twitter client Tweetbot 6 was today updated to version 6.1, introducing a redesigned video player, new custom icons, and more. The app features a redesigned video player that includes Picture in Picture support, so videos playing in the app can be watched even if you swipe out of the app. A video that's playing in Tweetbot can be shifted into Picture in Picture mode by tapping on...

Hulu Reactivates Picture-in-Picture on iOS 14 in Latest Update

Tuesday March 2, 2021 10:50 am PST by Sami Fathi

With its latest App Store update, Hulu has reactivated picture-in-picture for iPhone users running iOS 14, months after stripping the feature from the app. In the early days of iOS 14 in September, Hulu briefly supported picture-in-picture for iPhone users. Hulu soon removed support, however, to refine the feature and "work on a few updates to provide the best experience for our viewers."...

YouTube Website's Picture-in-Picture Works Again in iOS 14.5 Beta

Wednesday February 10, 2021 3:27 am PST by Tim Hardwick

YouTube's website appears to support picture-in-picture (PiP) again in the latest iOS 14.5 beta for iPhone, although how long it will continue to work for is anybody's guess. Tests show it works in Safari as well as third-party browsers like Chrome and Firefox by expanding a video to play fullscreen, and then tapping the small picture-in-picture icon in the top-left of the interface. Then ...

YouTube Premium and Music Surpass 50 Million Subscribers

Friday September 3, 2021 2:19 am PDT by Sami Fathi

YouTube says it has passed 50 million subscribers for its Premium and Music subscriptions, making it the "fastest growing music subscription" service in the world, according to YouTube's global head of music, Lyor Cohen. YouTube says that it has more than 50 million paying subscribers collectively across YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. The Google-owned service says it attributes this...

Amazon Launches Prime Video App for Mac

Monday November 15, 2021 9:05 am PST by Juli Clover

Amazon today introduced a native macOS app for its Amazon Prime Video service, with the app now available from the Mac App Store. Prime Video subscribers can stream content using the new app, or download content on Macs for offline viewing. All Amazon Prime content is available through the Mac app. Picture-in-Picture and AirPlay are both supported features that work with Amazon's new app, ...

This is What Facebook's Upcoming Smart Watch Looks Like

Thursday October 28, 2021 4:30 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has been working on a smart watch designed to compete with the Apple Watch since early this year, and now Bloomberg has obtained pictures of the device. The smart watch has a design that's not too far off from the Apple Watch, but it is wider and rounder with more curved edges. There is a camera at the bottom of the display, along with a control...

M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro Owners Complain of Crashes Playing HDR YouTube Videos

Friday November 5, 2021 2:09 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Some 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro owners have been experiencing kernel crashes when watching HDR YouTube videos, according to a number of complaints on the MacRumors forums. As explained by MacRumors reader Cababah, watching an HDR YouTube video in Safari and then scrolling through the comments results in a kernel error on macOS Monterey 12.0.1. Watching YouTube in full screen and then and...

Google Maps Warns You About Crowded Areas With Updated 'Busyness' Feature

Tuesday November 16, 2021 4:40 pm PST by Juli Clover

Google today announced the launch of new iOS Google Maps features aimed at helping holiday shoppers, including Area Busyness and Directories. With Area Busyness, Google combines the busyness trends of businesses and locations that are near each other to let you know when a neighborhood or a part of town is at its busiest. Google says that this feature can help you identify busy areas to...

Apple Store App for iOS Adds Saved Item Lists for Easy Sharing With Product Specialists

Thursday November 11, 2021 12:45 pm PST by Eric Slivka

The Apple Store app for iOS was updated today with a new feature that lets you easily save items to lists, share them with a specialist online or during a store visit, and then get a recap of your visit to help you later purchase your items. After you've saved items to a list, they can be found in a new Saved Items section on your account page accessible via your profile picture at the top...