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How to Keep Listening to YouTube in the Background or With iPhone Locked

Or just subscibe to Youtube. Youtube Music is included and no ads whatsoever. I cancelled my Apple Music subscription because I watch or listen Youtube more than Apple Music.
 
HeroOfTime32 said:
There is a MUCH BETTER and easier way to do this (for me on my 13 pro at least). Just start watching any video on Youtube. Swipe up to the home screen. Hopefully the video supports PIP and you can then see the video playing on your home screen. Lock your phone next. Then swipe down to reveal the control center. In the music section of the control center it will just say 'now playing' but not indicate anything in particular. Just click the play button...and VOILA! It's playing with your phone locked. Easy peasy. The Macrumors instructions above are somewhat cumbersome. Cheers :)

Edit: once in a blue moon the PIP doesn't work for me, and then this method doesn't work. I do not have YT Premium for the record.
Click to expand...
Brilliant! That worked perfectly for me!
 
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Kottu said:
Or just subscibe to Youtube. Youtube Music is included and no ads whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Yet. If I remember correctly Amazon just started adding ads to Amazon prime video and now charges a fee to remove those ads. Google may see how this can increase revenue flow and do the same.
 
I'm just on a free month of premium and the background play is nice and so is zero ads but its weirdly made me notice the in video sponsors more now which I get but its annoying. I've just cancelled premium because there is no benefit when they are advertising within the video.
 
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Works if you open YouTube with some of the alternative browsers (like Firefox Focus), too.

There’s lots of great audio/podcast type content on YouTube that really doesn’t need the screen to be on, so it’s annoying that they try to block this!
 
Kottu said:
Or just subscibe to Youtube. Youtube Music is included and no ads whatsoever. I cancelled my Apple Music subscription because I watch or listen Youtube more than Apple Music.
Click to expand...
I don't usually use music services, but YT Premium got me into music. I'm happy with it.
 
Iwavvns said:
Yet. If I remember correctly Amazon just started adding ads to Amazon prime video and now charges a fee to remove those ads. Google may see how this can increase revenue flow and do the same.
Click to expand...
I hope you can remember...wasn't it announced YESTERDAY? 🤓 But seriously...I read that and was just thinking that I have not found much at all I want to watch on Prime (lots of their good stuff requires payment...not free with Prime). WITHOUT ads, I don't know if I'll even look. They totally devalued the Prime service IMHO.
 
can someone explain to me why the button is "request desktop website"?

if i'm pressing the button, i'm not interested in asking, i am telling the browser to display it. this shouldn't be an option.
 
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dadiy said:
Or use the free app called x.app that gives you the pip extension to the YouTube app under the share menu.
Click to expand...
I spoke too soon. The pip for YT only worked once for me. It was working but then the Music app was overriding it. I had it in pip then closed iPhone, but it is only the Music app's song that's available for me on the lock screen. The first time I used it I could play the YT video but after that it stopped working.

Ah, EDIT, it works now. Problem is you have to keep the video playing (as you close to the lock screen). You cannot stop the video then access it via Lock Screen.

Thanks.
 
This is basically how I get background playback on iPad for years.
iPhone watching YouTube always hurt my eyes.
Listening is fine but that step sounds cumbersome On iPhone. On iPad I just use youtube normally.
 
thingstoponder said:
Why is YouTube allowed to lock basic OS API features like this? I thought it wasnt allowed
Click to expand...
If only Apple had some kind of rules and App Store review process to prevent this. Oh wait, they do? Curious...

So either:
  1. Apple does not know this, and the App Store reviews are incompetent
  2. Apple knows this happened, but the App Store rules are actually arbitrary / inconsistent
 
Ethosik said:
Yep. YouTube accounts for about 80% of my entertainment so I’m more than willing to pay for premium just for having no ads. This is also why I will never watch cable again by choice. I hate commercials. Even the Superbowl ones.
Click to expand...
Same here. I’d say YouTube is 90% of my viewing entertainment. I don’t watch Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon anymore. A little AppleTV+ here and there. And I mostly consume it on my Apple TV. Same with my wife, she watches mostly Vietnamese programming on YouTube. 95% of the time on Apple TV. We decided we could do without the others versus watching so many ads on Apple TV. If we can just find a way to get rid of the creator embedded ads lol.
 
HeroOfTime32 said:
There is a MUCH BETTER and easier way to do this (for me on my 13 pro at least). Just start watching any video on Youtube. Swipe up to the home screen. Hopefully the video supports PIP and you can then see the video playing on your home screen. Lock your phone next. Then swipe down to reveal the control center. In the music section of the control center it will just say 'now playing' but not indicate anything in particular. Just click the play button...and VOILA! It's playing with your phone locked. Easy peasy. The Macrumors instructions above are somewhat cumbersome. Cheers :)

Edit: once in a blue moon the PIP doesn't work for me, and then this method doesn't work. I do not have YT Premium for the record.
Click to expand...

This method does not work for me with iOS 17.2.1 and YouTube app. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edit: I am in Europe, so PIP is not available for free YouTube here.
 
Last edited:
constructor said:
Even simpler:

1. While the video is playing, swipe in Control Center

2. In the Control Center media playing widget the currently playing YT video should be shown as active.

3. Pause playback in the widget.

4. Lock the display.

5. When you wake up the display again but stay on the lock screen the lock screen does not show media playback, but again swipe in Control Center and un-pause the video again there.

6. Only the audio of the video will now continue to play even when you lock the display again!

This works both on the iPhone and on the iPad and in Safari as well as in other browsers (checked in the excellent iCab mobile which has a very effective ad filter).
Click to expand...

Does not work for me, instead offering to play some random stuff from Apple Music.
 
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