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YouTube had received support for Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode a long time ago (we’re talking about actual PiP mode here, that works even when you leave the app). Support for PiP was first enabled for YouTube Premium (back then known as YouTube Red) subscribers, and a while back it started rolling out to non-paying users in the US. Well, those of you who live outside of the US will be glad to know that PiP support has started rolling out to everyone, at least according to the source.
The source reports that a couple of users from Italy reported that support for PiP mode started rolling out to them, and they confirmed that by sending screenshots of it working, not to mention a screenshot of the “General” section in “Settings” which proves that the feature has arrived.
Google’s support page still doesn’t confirm this info, but if the feature is rolling out across Europe, or across the world even, that confirmation will come soon. So, it seems like it took PiP mode about a year to spread beyond the US, at least as far as non-paying users are concerned.
If you happen to live outside of the US and are wondering whether the feature is available on your device, you’ll need to visit YouTube’ settings. On the main page, hit your profile picture in the top-right corner of the app. Once you do that, hit the “Settings” option, and then select “General”. There you should see the “Picture in picture” option, as shown in the image down below, and all you have to do is flip the switch.
Picture-in-picture arrived to Android with Android Oreo, well, native support for PiP arrived, though truth be said not many apps support it. Chrome, for example, does, but only on certain websites. Some applications supported PiP even before it arrived to Android Oreo, and some received such capability later on, such as WhatsApp, for example. WhatsApp supports PiP, but in a different way than the rest of the apps do, and different to YouTube.
If you receive a YouTube video for example, in WhatsApp, and decide to play it, a small window will pop up and the video will start playing. You can, of course, navigate to YouTube from there or simply enlarge that window, but it is worth saying that WhatsApp’s PiP mode works only within the app. YouTube had received support for in-app PiP mode a long time ago, you can watch the video while you navigate the app, but that window is fixed in the lower-right portion of the display (in some instances bottom of the display in general), and there’s nothing you can do about that.
YouTube’s genuine PiP mode, which allows you to leave the app, is what we’re focusing on in this article, and it means that the video will continue playing no matter what you do, until you remove it. If you decide to watch a video, all you have to do is fire it up, and then navigate home, a pop-up window will appear and the video will keep on playing as you browse the web, navigate to your messaging apps, scroll through social media and so on, presuming you have received that feature, of course. Also, do keep in mind that PiP will not work with music videos, so… stay away from those if you’d like to use the feature.
