YouTube, the second most visited site in the world, offers an impressive volume of content. You can find just about anything on YouTube, tutorials, TV shows and of course the latest music videos.
You have certainly faced this situation or you wish listen to YouTube in the background while you are doing other things on your smartphone or even locked the screen to save your precious battery. And you must have realized that it was not at all obvious.
So I present to you some simple ways to play a YouTube video in the background on iOS devices and Android.
Using YouTube Red
To begin with, let's give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. If it's hard to listen to a YouTube video in the background without resorting to Sioux tricks, it's simply because YouTube wants you to put your hand in your pocket by subscribing to its paid online video service. : YouTube Red. This service therefore makes it possible to play videos, some exclusive, without advertising and with the possibility of them. listen in the background for the modest sum of 9.99 USD / month.
But don't worry, there are free solutions.
Play YouTube videos in the background under Android
Play videos in the background under Android can be done using Firefox and Google Chrome. You can use any of its browsers, but you will need to use versions of Google Chrome newer than version V.54.
- Launch Firefox or Google Chrome as you usually do and go to the YouTube site.
- Select the video you want to listen to in the background.
- Go to the settings menu by pressing the 3 dots icon in the upper right corner of the window.
- Then select "view computer version".
- Start playing the video and press the home button to close the browser. If the video stops while using Chrome, you can restart playback by activating the notification bar and tapping play.
Play YouTube in the background on iPhone or iPad
Many people are surprised to find that it is possible to perform this task on iOS without having to jailbreak their iPhone or iPad. It's as easy as play a video with Opera Mini and then close it once the video has started.
Playing a YouTube video on an iPhone with a locked screen is even trickier, especially because some methods that previously worked were developed by iOS 13.
I finally found a method that actually works (most of the time, anyway).
- Open your video in Safari. (You'll likely be using the mobile version of YouTube.)
- Tap the “AA” symbol in the upper left corner of the screen.
- In the drop-down menu, press “Desktop version”.
- In the computer version of YouTube, start the video, then lock your iPhone or iPad.
- The video will probably stop. On the Home screen, swipe up to open Control Center.
- In the control center, you will see the YouTube video instead of your music.
Just press the play button and continue listening to your video as if you were watching it on your phone.
Play a video with Awesome Pop-up Video
You can also use an application called Awesome Popup Video. The application exists in free and paid version, the paid version allowing to play videos longer than 5 minutes. You can start by testing the ground using the free version.
The principle of the application is to play the video in a pop-up window allowing you to do other things while the video is playing.
- Go to YouTube using your browser of choice under Android.
- Select the desired video and copy the URL address.
- Paste the URL into the app and tap the icon on the right.
- Close the application, the video will then immediately appear in a pop-up window.
- You can now derail your iPhone without the Youtube video stopping.
There you go, you now know how to play a YouTube video in the background without the screen being on!