You're halfway through a killer 3-hour podcast or a lo-fi study mix, and then it happens. You need to answer a text. Or check an email. You swipe up to go home, and—silence. The audio cuts out immediately because YouTube wants you to keep your eyes glued to the screen (and the ads). It’s annoying. Honestly, it feels like a basic feature that should just work, but the reality of how to make youtube play in background is tied up in a messy web of subscriptions, browser tricks, and OS-level permissions.
Google knows exactly what it’s doing. By locking background play behind a paywall, they’ve turned a simple software toggle into a billion-dollar revenue stream. But if you aren't ready to cough up ten or fifteen bucks a month, you aren't totally out of luck. There are genuine ways to keep the music going while you scroll through Reddit or lock your phone.
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The Official Route (And Why It Costs You)
Let’s be real for a second. The easiest, most stable way to handle this is YouTube Premium. It’s the "official" solution. You pay the monthly fee, and suddenly your phone stops being a jerk when you switch apps. You get "Picture-in-Picture" (PiP) mode, which is that little floating window that stays on your screen, and you get "Background Play," which allows the audio to continue even when the screen is completely black.
Is it worth it? That depends on your budget. For some, the $13.99 a month is a steep price just to get a feature that desktop users have for free. But it also removes ads. If you’re consuming four hours of video a day, those saved minutes add up. However, many people just want to know how to make youtube play in background without adding another line item to their credit card statement.
The Browser "Desktop Site" Trick
This is the classic workaround. It’s been around for years, and even though Google and Apple occasionally try to patch it, it usually still works if you know the sequence. It’s a bit janky, but it works.
First, stop using the YouTube app. It’s designed to stop audio when closed. Instead, open Safari on an iPhone or Chrome/Firefox on Android. Navigate to the YouTube website. Now, here is the secret sauce: you have to request the desktop version of the site. In Safari, you tap the "AA" icon in the address bar. In Chrome, you hit the three dots and check "Desktop site."
Once the page reloads and looks like a tiny, cramped version of a computer screen, play your video. Swipe up to go to your home screen. The audio will probably stop. Don’t panic. Swipe down to open your Control Center (iPhone) or notification shade (Android). You’ll see a media player widget there. Hit play. Suddenly, the audio resumes while you're on your home screen. You can even lock your phone, and the audio will keep humming along. It’s a little clunky because you have to deal with the desktop UI on a small screen, but it’s a solid, free fix.
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The Brave Browser Advantage
If you want a smoother experience without the "Desktop Site" headache, Brave Browser is actually a bit of a hero here. Brave has a built-in feature specifically for this. It’s tucked away in the settings.
- Download Brave.
- Go to Settings.
- Look for "Media" or "Background Play."
- Toggle it on.
Brave essentially tricks the YouTube web player into thinking it’s always in focus. Plus, it blocks most trackers and ads by default. It feels much closer to a "native" experience than the Safari trick. You just play a video, exit the app, and it keeps going. Simple.
Why Does Google Block This Anyway?
It’s about the "Active View." Advertisers pay more when they know a human is actually looking at the screen. If you’re just listening to a video while your phone is in your pocket, you aren't seeing the Mid-roll ads. You aren't seeing the banners. For a company built on data and eyeballs, audio-only consumption is less valuable than video consumption.
That’s why the mobile app is so restrictive. They want to force a choice: either look at the ads or pay to skip them. It's a classic "freemium" friction point.
Using Picture-in-Picture on Android and iOS
Picture-in-Picture (PiP) is slightly different from true background play, but for many, it serves the same purpose. It lets you use other apps while the video stays in a small corner. On Android, this is generally free for most users in the US, though some music videos are restricted. You just need to go to your phone's Settings > Apps > Special App Access > Picture-in-Picture and make sure YouTube is allowed.
On iOS, it’s a bit more finicky. For a while, Apple and Google played a game of cat-and-mouse with this feature. Currently, you can often get PiP to work via the mobile browser tricks mentioned earlier. If you use the YouTube app on an iPhone without Premium, PiP is hit-or-miss depending on your region and the type of content you're watching.
The Third-Party App Rabbit Hole
There are "wrapper" apps out there. You might have heard of names like NewPipe or others that float around the internet. These are unofficial clients that bypass the standard YouTube API to give you background play and no ads.
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Proceed with caution here. These apps aren't on the official Google Play Store because they violate YouTube's Terms of Service. You usually have to "sideload" them, which means downloading an APK file from a website. While they work incredibly well—often better than the official app—they come with security risks. You’re essentially trusting a random developer with your data. If you go this route, never log in with your primary Google account. Use it as a guest or with a burner account just to be safe.
Logic and Limitations
It is important to remember that these workarounds aren't perfect. Browser-based background play often consumes more battery than the native app because browsers aren't as optimized for video decoding. Also, Google can change their site code at any time. One day the Safari trick works, the next day it doesn't.
If you find yourself spending 20 minutes a day just trying to get a video to play in the background, your time might actually be worth more than the subscription cost. But for the casual listener who just wants to hear a specific 10-minute video while checking a map, the browser method is the king of "good enough."
Summary of Actionable Steps
- For the "Zero Effort" Crowd: Get YouTube Premium. It’s expensive but it’s the only way to get a seamless, bug-free experience across all devices.
- For the Safari/Chrome Users: Open YouTube in the mobile browser, switch to "Desktop Mode," play the video, go home, and then hit "Play" again in your phone’s Control Center/Notification panel.
- For the "Feature-Focused" Users: Download the Brave browser. Enable "Background Play" in the settings. This is arguably the best balance of ease and cost (free).
- For the Multitaskers: Check your Android settings to ensure Picture-in-Picture is toggled on so you can use other apps while the video floats in the corner.
The next time you’re frustrated because a video stopped when you locked your screen, remember that the power is in the browser. Stop using the app for everything. The web version of YouTube is surprisingly flexible if you know which buttons to push.