📷 Image Credit: The Verge 👆
By: Jay Peters

TL;DR YouTube only allows the picture-in-picture feature to be used for premium users. Is it a glitch or a sales tactic?

One of the newest features on the latest iPhone is the picture-in-picture feature. If you aren’t familiar, this lets you watch a video in a small window while you do other things on your phone. It is a feature that could be super handy for texting a friend while watching a YouTube video on, say, safari. But nope… YouTube has done something that prevents this from happening. Users have been trying it out and noting that the video will briefly flicker to picture-in-picture mode before it stops unless you are a YouTube premium member.

However, you are the exception for all of you iPad users out there. This functionality works for picture-in-picture without any issues, whether you have a YouTube premium account or not. As of now, no one knows whether this is a bug or an intentional decision on YouTube’s part. YouTube already restricts the ability to play videos in the background to their premium users, so this may be an intentional decision. We’ll make sure to let you know.

Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern

Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor