YouTube Will Finally Let You Watch Videos While Doing Other Things On Your Phone

Multitaskers everywhere can rejoice as YouTube has just installed a function so you can do other things on your phone while still watching videos. 

Behold, the future is here!

We’ve all had that moment where we’re trying hard to watch a video while trying to text at the same time. However, when one door, opens, another does not.

Those days are well and truly over thanks to the new picture-in-picture mode that will allow users to watch videos in a floating window to perform other activities on the iPhone or iPad.

The new add-on was included after users submitted feedback about the app, with many highly requesting the feature.

Youtube will be making it accessible for premium members worldwide and non-premium users in the US for all non-music related videos.

However, the new function won’t be available for music unless you have a premium subscription.

YouTube announced the news via Twitter, admitting it’s been a long time coming: “It's happening! picture-in-picture is slowly rolling out for YouTube on iPhone & iPad, & just like on Android, will be avail to: Premium members globally & non-Premium members in US (non-music only).

Many users were elated with the good news, as one person wrote: “FINALLY.”

Another said: “*cries in non-premium and non US*”

A third person commented: “Please god HURRYYYYYYY.”

While another asked why it was only being extended to non-premium users in the US, writing: “Why for non-members in the USA only?”

And if you’re wondering how this new feature will work, it’s pretty straightforward, even for those who aren’t particularly tech savvy. 

All you need to do is head to Settings, then General in your YouTube app, and turn on picture-in-picture. 

Then as you watch a YouTube video and exit the screen by swiping from the bottom, the video will continue playing in a mini-player, which you can move around as you perform other tasks on your device.

The picture-in-picture feature is available to ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ devices running iOS and iPadOS 15 and higher.

Thank you tech gods!

Featured Image Credit: Alamy Stock Photo. Warner Bros. Pictures / Columbia Pictures / Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Topics: News, Good News, Technology, YouTube

Charisa Bossinakis

Charisa Bossinakis is an Associative Journalist at LADbible. Charisa has worked across various media platforms including, print, digital, radio and podcasting while maintaining the highest regard for quality work and integrity. She also covered everything from breaking news, to pop culture, entertainment and politics and is part of the editorial team for LADbible.

@CBossinakis