YouTube has become a fundamental thing in our daily lives, allowing us to watch and enjoy a wide range of videos from music videos to news, documentaries, and even movies. However, one of the main downsides of the platform is that you need to subscribe to YouTube Premium to enjoy background playback, which allows you to continue watching a video while using another app or with your phone locked. Fortunately, there are several ways to play YouTube in the background for free on Android.
How to play Youtube videos in the background
One of the ways to achieve this is by using a web browser that supports Android’s Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, which allows us to view the content in a small window while we have another application open. In this article, we will explore three web browsers that can play YouTube in the background. And how to use them.
Vivaldi
The first browser on our list is Vivaldi. It is a free browser that plays YouTube audio in the background and works perfectly fine. Besides allowing you to listen to the content. While using another application, you can also continue listening with the screen off. To use Vivaldi for this purpose, you need to download it for free from the Google Play Store. And modify the browser settings to ensure everything works correctly.
The steps to follow include tapping on the tab manager in the bottom right corner, tapping on the three-dot button at the top right, entering “Settings,” checking the “Stay in browser” and “Allow background audio playback” checkboxes, and finally tapping on “Restart now”. After the browser restarts, you can enter the web version of YouTube to view the content in the background. This is particularly useful if you use the Google service to listen to music as it will save you battery life.
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Firefox
The second browser on our list is Mozilla Firefox, a popular web browser for Android known for its excellent user security and privacy protection. Firefox allows you to watch YouTube videos in a small window while using another app for free. To use Firefox for this purpose, you need to download the app from the Google Play Store and search for the video in the web version of the platform. Once you’ve found the video, put it on full screen and press the “Home” button to go to the home screen.
The video will stay in that little window while you do other things. If you want to go one step further and play YouTube when locked, you’ll need to install the Video Background Play Fix extension, which also works with Vimeo. This extension requires permission to access browsing data from those two services. But it will accomplish its goal without any problem.
Opera
The third browser on our list is Opera, a fast and secure browser with an integrated VPN. Like Firefox, Opera allows you to play YouTube in the background for free, but with a slight difference. In this case, you must open the browser and enter YouTube to search for the video you want to watch. Once playing, you just have to minimize Opera so that the content continues to play. But in a small window in the lower right corner of the screen. Unfortunately, the playback of Opera on YouTube does not work if we lock the device. But it is very useful if you want to watch videos or listen to music while you do other things with your mobile.
Verdict
In conclusion, playing YouTube in the background for free on Android is possible. And there are several ways to achieve this. You can use Vivaldi, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera, all of which support Android’s Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, allowing you to view the content in a small window while you have another application open. These browsers provide an excellent alternative to the paid YouTube Premium subscription. Allowing you to save battery life and continue to enjoy your favorite YouTube videos while multitasking on your mobile.
