Picture-in-picture (PiP) compatibility for iOS devices will be available “in a matter of days,” according to YouTube.
In the past, the function was only available to YouTube Premium members for a limited amount of time.
Although Google said in a statement last year that it aims to “launch PiP for all US iOS users” after the Premium-only trial, which suggests that iPhone and iPad customers – at least in the United States – should anticipate universal access to this functionality in the near future.
PiP functionality will be available on any Apple devices running iOS 15 or later, according to a tweet from YouTube’s support account.. Android smartphones running Android 8 and above already have the capability.
In spite of the fact that we don’t yet know when PiP support will be added to the YouTube app for iOS, a few Premium users who had access to the functionality even after their trial expired have disclosed the methods needed to activate it (opens in new tab).
As a result of an early update to the YouTube app, you’ll need to hit the user symbol in the upper right corner of the screen, then go to Settings. To activate picture-in-picture mode, hit the General tab and then turn it on (for what it’s worth, the option isn’t currently accessible to us here at TechRadar).
YouTube’s PiP functionality works the same way FaceTime does on iOS. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to the home screen while viewing a video and you’ll be able to adjust its size and position, as well as move it about the screen.
YouTube has been sluggish to implement PiP in its own app, despite the fact that it has been native to iPhone and iPad devices for some time. For example, PiP was just made available to YouTube TV videos last week.
Fortunately, it seems that all iOS users will soon be able to take advantage of an upgraded YouTube watching experience.