YouTube Says iOS Picture-in-Picture Coming to All US Users

[Rogifan]

Why can’t Apple force every iOS video app to support PiP?

 

[xiggy4ever]

Why in the world would this be a US-exclusive feature?

It does not say that it is an exclusive, only that the launch will be U.S., others to follow shortly….

 

[xiggy4ever]

Why just US?

It does not say that it is an exclusive, only that the launch will be U.S., others to follow shortly….

 

[Ohples]

Finally!
They say iOS but I take it they also mean iPadOS too right?

 

[BWhaler]

This is one of the more dirtbag moves Google has tried to pull. except, of course, building a global spy network to harvest data to sell viagra ads.

 

[Hitmanbbq59]

Not currently here on iOS 15…

 

[Kentoch Mervel]

I guess since a lot of users open YouTube videos in shortcuts to transfer to Safari (for PIP), Google realize that they are losing some precious datas…

 

[Khedron]

It's very curious to me why Apple removed the browser ability to continue playing in the background or while the screen is off. It shouldn't be any of the website's business what state my device is in.

I was able to do it longer using Opera browser but I don't think it works well anymore.

Still, at least adblock generally works in Safari. I have no idea why people use the Youtube app in the first place.

Maybe some websites would use it to play some of those invisible pixels that track people

 

[falkon-engine]

I don't mind YouTube restricting some features to paying subscribers, but trying to charge for something that is part of the OS always seemed a bit off to me. This will be a welcome addition!

YouTube Picture in Picture has been working on android for years! About time it comes to iOS.

 

[Chorx]

Will it also continue playing audio when you "sleep" the phone?

Excuse me sir, that is the driving feature of YouTube Premium. If they gave you that basic media player functionality, how else would YouTube grease you into a premium membership?

think of other services and their value proposition…

Amazon Prime, delivery costs, a bunch of media, books
Spotify, tons of music
Netflix, more content than you can find time to consume
YouTube Premium, background play and no ads.

 

[The Game 161]

Hopefully this rolls out soon

 

[circatee]

When they say 'soon', when is that exactly?

Shortly?
In a while?
In the future?

 

[dontwalkhand]

Apparently having an account since 2005 doesn’t mean anything in terms of this “rolling out”….I don’t know why they can’t just update the app.

 

[rgeneral]

There's shortcuts out there. However they ate cumbersome and often stop working.

that's too bad.. strangely I have no issues with mine. it works all the time. YouTube with Safari.

 

[BraytonAK]

…

 

[dontwalkhand]

I don’t know why anyone uses the YouTube app. My Safari ad blocker does block the ads and the script shortcut does do PiP reliably.

It feels more flexible using the browser, such as putting a video in a private window so YouTube won’t clobber me with more suggestions to watch something I only wanted to see once. I can send many videos into the background for watching later or pick up on another device with tab syncing. And I wonder if using the app means Google gets even more tasty metrics that I don’t think they need.

One big reason for me. The app plays at a higher quality. The browser version always seems to default for me at 480p

 

[techfreak23]

It’s about d*mn time! This last year has been incredibly annoying because of their active effort to disable it. I’ve had a shortcut I use, but it’s annoying to have to remember to run it each time.

 

[Jetscreamer]

About damn time Google. This was one of the feature that I miss when switching to iOS from Android.

 

[thesaint580]

What about YouTube TV?

 

[hot-gril]

It's very curious to me why Apple removed the browser ability to continue playing in the background or while the screen is off. It shouldn't be any of the website's business what state my device is in.

I was able to do it longer using Opera browser but I don't think it works well anymore.

Still, at least adblock generally works in Safari. I have no idea why people use the Youtube app in the first place.

I know it's against YouTube ToS to play audio in background, and they have other odd rules about how YouTube can be accessed. Probably Google made them do it. An example of updates that go against the user's wishes. See also, Grand Theft Auto IV receiving an update 10 years after that removed soundtracks that they lost the licenses to.

Anyway, DolphinX worked last I checked, but I'm sure it's 100% stealing my browsing data. The first thing that app did upon opening was ask for every permission, including location. IDK how that passed review.

 

[bn-7bc]

I'm still disappointed major streaming apps like Discovery+ and Paramount+ don't have PIP enabled yet,a basic feature unavailable is terrible.

well this is because the services in question want your undecided attention, pip allows you to to other things, thus pip gets quietly dropoed or put on the " well get back to it whenever nothing else is on" queue

 

[bn-7bc]

Was it not the case that premium subscribers had already paid for this feature? What exactly is changing for premium subscribers?

No blasted ads, and to (imho ) a lesser extent youtube original content

 

[kenni417]

Why just US?

because **** everyone else expect Americans.

 

[Lerxt]

Anyone aware of any up and coming you tube replacement apps or video sites?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I don't mind YouTube restricting some features to paying subscribers, but trying to charge for something that is part of the OS always seemed a bit off to me. This will be a welcome addition!

The Google machine is always hungry for more money and more people pods to use as products.