Use Desktop Mode on Android
One easy way to get YouTube to play in the background is to use the desktop version of YouTube on your Chrome browser. Here’s how it works.
Picture-in-Picture View on Android
Designed to help you multitask, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) is a feature available on Android smartphones running Android 8.0 Oreo and later. Here’s how to use PiP to play YouTube videos in the background.
Use an Alternative Browser on iOS Devices
Although PiP is not available on YouTube for iOS devices without a subscription, you can still play YouTube videos in the background on your iPhone or tablet by using an alternative browser, such as Opera and Dolphin.
If the Workarounds Fail: Subscribe or Download
Any workarounds that let YouTube play in the background could disappear at any time as YouTube figures out how to close the loop. If you are dependent on this, you’ll need to subscribe to YouTube’s services. YouTube offers two subscription services. YouTube Premium (previously known as Red) allows you to play videos in the background and comes with access to original video content for $11.99 a month. YouTube Music is a music streaming service that allows YouTube videos to play in the background for $9.99 a month. An alternative is to download the videos to your device and avoid the YouTube app altogether.
