YouTube once again allows iOS 14 users to watch video from its website in a small window while another application is open. Picture in Picture support had been removed several weeks ago for iPhone users who aren’t a YouTube Premium subscriber.
This only includes video streamed from Safari. Google’s YouTube application has never supported Picture in Picture.
And the change doesn’t affect iPadOS 14 users, as they never lost access to using Safari to watch YouTube videos in a small window.
YouTube Picture in Picture is back
A highlight of iOS 14 is the ability to watch videos while you use other apps. iPhone users can open a video in a variety of applications, then switch to another app and have the video continue playing in a small window. The window stays on top of everything else so it’s always visible, but can be moved, resized and quickly collapsed. It’s available in the Apple TV app, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and others.
Immediately after the launch of iOS 14, it was possible for Safari on an iPhone to play video streamed from the YouTube website with Picture in Picture. Then the feature stopped working unless the user was a YouTube Premium subscriber.
It’s now working again. But it’s not clear if the change is related to the release of iOS 14.0.1, or if Google relented and made the feature available to all.
For more details, read Cult of Mac’s guide to How to watch YouTube in Picture in Picture on iPhone and iPad.
