Google’s video service again working in PiP on the iPhone

Oct 3, 2020 18:45 GMT  ·  By

YouTube’s Picture-in-Picture mode is once again working on the iPhone after Google previously restricted this feature to users who were Premium subscribers.

Apple enabled PiP mode on the iPhone with the release of iOS 14, and this was massive news for those living in the Apple ecosystem, as the walled garden came (and still does) with lots of limitations.

But with the release of iOS 14, users could even watch YouTube videos in PiP mode, not through the dedicated app launched by Google, but with the help of Safari and the mobile version of YouTube.

The official YouTube app continues to require a Premium subscription for PiP mode.

So essentially, YouTube’s PiP feature was working on the iPhone in iOS 14 by default, only that Google suddenly decided to block it and ask for Premium to unlock it.

Welcome back, YouTube PiP mode!

And now it looks like the feature is back totally out of the blue, and it’s not really clear what made it possible, as it’s either the release of iOS 14.0.1 or Google changing its mind and allowing iPhone users to watch YouTube in PiP mode.

Worth knowing, however, is that the whole thing is again possible through Safari browser, as nothing has changed when the YouTube app is being used. If you want to use YouTube for iOS for the same thing, a Premium subscription is still required.

On the other hand, YouTube PiP mode continues to run just normally on the iPad as long as iPadOS 14 is installed, as for some reason Google doesn’t seem to be bothered by this feature being available on Apple’s tablet. No change has been made for iPadOS users since the PiP mode first launched last month when Apple announced the latest software update.