How to enable YouTube picture-in-picture on an iPhone

YouTube is the most popular video platform with over 2.49 billion monthly active users. With over 450 million active users, India has the largest number of YouTube users in the world. While there are many ways to improve your YouTube experience, there is one feature that will make your YouTube experience even better and it’s called picture-in-picture mode. With YouTube’s picture-in-picture mode, you can multitask like a pro on your iPhone. Picture-in-picture allows.

YouTube users to minimise a YouTube video to a smaller video player that is also movable on your iPhone’s screen. It means you can use another app on your iPhone while your YouTube content continues to play in a smaller, movable window.

Picture-in-picture mode on YouTube: How does it work?

Interestingly, picture-in-picture mode isn’t a straightforward setting on YouTube. For YouTube users outside the US, the feature is only available to YouTube Premium subscribers. However, in the US, YouTube users can access picture-in-picture without a premium membership. If you are in the United States and don’t have YouTube Premium, you cannot watch certain content like music videos.

ALSO READ: Complete guide on YouTube Premium: Plans, prices, and payment 

In order to use YouTube’s picture-in-picture mode on iPhone, you will first need an iPhone running iOS 17 or later. You will also need the YouTube app with YouTube Premium membership, especially if you are based outside the US.

YouTube Picture-in-picture mode: How to enable from the app

On your iPhone, you can enable picture-in-picture mode from the YouTube app but you also need to enable a dedicated PiP setting on your device. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to enable YouTube picture-in-picture on iPhone:  

Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your iPhone. 

Step 2: Tap the “You” option at the bottom corner. 

Step 3: Now, go to Settings (gear icon) at the top right corner. 

Step 4: Click General and scroll down to find the Picture-in-picture option. 

ALSO READ: A comprehensive guide to setting up YouTube parental controls 

Step 5: Tap the toggle next to Picture-in-picture to enable the feature. 

Step 6: Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 

Step 7: Scroll down and tap on General. 

Step 8: Tap the Picture in Picture option. 

Step 9: Now, click on the toggle next to “Start PiP Automatically.”

How to use picture-in-picture mode on YouTube

Once you have enabled picture-in-picture mode on YouTube and paid for the YouTube Premium subscription, it is easy to use the feature. Open the YouTube app, play a video and simply exit the app. The video will turn into a PiP window that can be dragged to different parts of the screen and will continue to playback on top of other apps.

On this PiP window, you can pause or stop playing a video before you exit YouTube to prevent PiP from turning on. To close the PiP player, first tap the player to view controls and then tap the x in the top-left corner of the player. There is a freedom with picture-in-picture where you are suddenly able to watch your favourite content while also using another app. Try PiP mode on your iPhone and let us know how it changes your YouTube experience.