YouTube offers a series of sweet advantages to paid users. One of the most envied by those on mobile devices is Picture-in-Picture (PiP). This feature allows you to watch a YouTube video while scrolling through other apps. That said, after several years, it seems that gap is finally ending. Google has officially announced that Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode is rolling out to all users—including free ones—globally, allowing everyone to multitask without their video cutting off.
The feature works exactly as you would expect: you start a video, swipe up or hit the home button to exit the app, and the video shrinks into a small, floating window. You can move this player around your screen or resize it while you check your emails or browse the web. According to YouTube, this global rollout will reach all Android and iOS users over the coming months.
YouTube free PiP rollout: Understanding the small print
While this is great news, there are a few important conditions to keep in mind. The free version of PiP is specifically designed for “longform, non-music content.” This means that it won’t work if you want to listen to a music video in the background. For that, you will have to pay for a Premium subscription, which also offers access to the YouTube Music catalog.
For those who already pay for the service, nothing changes. Premium members still enjoy the most flexible version of the feature, which includes PiP for music videos and the ability to listen with the screen completely turned off. Premium Lite members will continue to have access to PiP for non-music content, just like the new free tier.
How to get it working
If the feature doesn’t show up for you immediately, don’t panic. Since this is a gradual rollout, it could take a while for all devices to get it. Once available, you can find the option from the app’s Settings > “General” > Picture-in-Picture.
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