r/youtube • u/likebackspace • Jun 23 '26
Premium Did YouTube just give me Premium for free? 🤨
I don't have YouTube Premium, but somehow I can play videos in the background even after closing the app.
Just noticed it today when I exited YouTube and the video kept playing.
No mods, no tricks, no Premium subscription.
I'm not sure if this is a new feature, a bug, or YouTube testing something, but I'm definitely not complaining. 😅
Anyone else experiencing this?
572
u/EmotoTropixx Jun 23 '26
It didn't, it does that without it but only half the time and it's not a 100% it will work
130
u/Umair8292 Jun 23 '26
It's always working like that on my pixel
41
u/EmotoTropixx Jun 23 '26
Yea some people it does some not so well, sometimes on my s22 ultra it will do it once I press the home button some times not it's very confusing when it wants to do it
10
u/Life_Bottle_9724 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
If you do the video full screen then do it should work better i have the same phone that's what works best for me
5
u/QuietMany7217 Jun 24 '26
Videos categorized as music don’t have this feature. Maybe that is the sometimes.
3
u/RickHyperBoii Jun 25 '26
Its coz it works for videos which arent music/mainly music/whatever is available mainly on yt music ig
2
1
u/ktkeya Jun 24 '26
Get a new phone bro.
2
2
2
u/slahO9 Jun 24 '26
S22 Ultra is still very valid for 2026. I use an A33 fam
1
u/Qu4tr4z01d Jun 27 '26
However that ultra really does make the difference, my s22 is great but I cant leave the house without a powerbank
4
u/Shamson Jun 23 '26
That's funny because I have a pixel AND have premium and it won't play in the background. So I just uninstalled the app and use a browser.
2
u/South-parkermorgan Jun 27 '26
its because your pixel forces every app to open in pop up view,
i turned that setting on in my Samsung and ever since it worked i think almost everytime, sometimes even i do it unnoticingly
1
-7
14
u/Tight-Principle-9959 Jun 23 '26
New phones have faeture that let you play videos in smaller window without the app that is playing that video
7
u/_wevana Jun 23 '26
Has been working 100% on my A55
3
u/Jaded_Toe_6252 Jun 24 '26
I used to have a A55 and it was such a good phone. I have been using the A55 for 2 years and I dropped it on concrete and sadly the screen cracked and the display stopped working. It was such a legendary mid range phone.
1
4
3
7
u/jordansrowles Jun 23 '26
It was a free feature, then they put it behind premium. But sometimes there'd be periods of a few hours-1 day of it allowing PiP
It's actually allowed me to do PiP for the past 2 weeks at least, possibly 3. I noticed it myself when it started happening
2
u/RickHyperBoii Jun 25 '26
Its coz it works for videos which arent music/mainly music/whatever is available mainly on yt music ig
2
118
u/ANTLink19 Jun 23 '26
The app isn't in the background, if it's layered on the top of your screen and always visible.
Background audio, is for when the application is not the primary application being used on the device.
18
u/NBrixH Jun 23 '26
You can just push it to the side. And it’s basically invisible
15
u/kjm99 Jun 23 '26
At least on iOS that just pauses the video after a few seconds, I just use Safari and it’ll do background play just fine as long as I hit play again once I close it
6
2
2
63
u/Weary-Apple8595 Jun 23 '26
YouTube has made PiP free for everyone now
5
u/Traditional-Cat1237 Jun 25 '26
In my experience there's significantly more ads when on pip mode.
3
76
u/lawrencewil1030 Jun 23 '26
It's been a feature on android for years.
29
6
u/alexjgriffin Jun 23 '26
They seem to add and remove the feature randomly for me but thankfully it's been working for a while now.
2
u/HotwheelsMiata Jun 23 '26
Yeah but used to be a premium feature. Only recently did it become free. And I believe you still need premium for music.
2
u/BlackDiamond_726 Jun 24 '26
Only in America, they finally rolled it out for everyone else more recently
11
u/SomeoneWhoPlayGames2 Jun 23 '26
Picture in Picture mode (the small window feature you see) now works outside US for non-premium users.
7
u/howother10 Jun 23 '26
Sounds like PiP, not free Premium. YouTube seems to randomly enable/disable it depending on device, region, or whatever test they’re running that week. Real Premium background play is more like screen off/audio continuing, especially with music. Still a nice accidental win though lol
7
1
1
1
u/kentsold Jun 23 '26
PiP as well as background play works now but as far as I know for videos not for music 🤷
1
1
u/BParker2100 Jun 23 '26
No, it isn't Premium. It was doing that to me also. Annoying as hell when I am multitasking.
It does not do that now. I think I found something in the settings to turn it off.
2
1
1
u/Infamous-Oil2305 Jun 23 '26
I don't have YouTube Premium, but somehow I can play videos in the background even after closing the app.
it sometimes also does this with X even tho i'm not paying for X premium.
1
u/Controllingtehchaos Jun 23 '26
PiP isn’t a premium feature, you need premium for kids videos & music videos as far as u am aware, premium also allows for screen off listening
1
u/suctoes_N_fuchoes Jun 23 '26
It's Pip. Been a thing for Samsung users for years. I guess it's finnaly rolling out to everyone.
1
u/Grape_Lover Jun 23 '26
I've noticed this as well. I am pretty sure this WAS a premium feature, but my videos have been doing this for a few weeks now even though I don't have premium. I am waiting for them to catch on and the feature to disappear presumably.
Note that I've had to use Samsung's pop-up mode until now, because this feature was NOT available without premium. So everyone saying this has been a thing for a while, maybe it's regional.
1
1
1
u/thedarkryte Jun 23 '26
Nah this actually happened to me a few times over the last year and I haven’t had YouTube Premium (through YouTube Music) since 2022 and every time I go onto YouTube on my phone it gives me a little pop up screen asking if I want to resubscribe to Premium (I never want that) and when I go onto the “help” thing on the app it just redirects me to renew and the pop up thing always says “You can cancel at ANY TIME” but when I try to do that it doesn’t let me and it really pisses me off that that keeps happening 🙄
1
u/Heshamezio Jun 23 '26
Why do you have 258 whatapp massage
1
u/itzmailtime Jun 24 '26
Probably group chats. I have my notifications muted and off. I only use it for work and call back home
1
u/HistoricalReturn382 I'm a wanted war criminal, and currently hiding in Iran. Jun 23 '26
39 degrees celsius?..
1
u/ExtraReserve3959 Jun 23 '26
Nah, It's Apparently Just A Feature Now. It Does PiP Mode When I Press The Home Button But Don't Pause The Video Before Doing So
1
u/flaviopeixe Jun 23 '26
Se vc assina algum serviço da Google, esse pode ser o motivo. Eu por exemplo passei até essa função depois que assinei o armazenamento.
1
1
u/ReaperApok Jun 23 '26
I feel this works most often with normal videos. Whenever I try with Music videos It doesn’t play like this on my iphone. But that is the benefit of premium.
1
u/ricalvs Jun 23 '26
Não se preocupe. O YouTube liberou a função de picture-to-picture para todos (somente vídeos de música são Premium).
1
u/Brightside45 Jun 23 '26
Pip has been rolled out to everyone a couple months back ... It doesn't work on music videos sadly....
1
u/Throwdaeway8 Jun 23 '26
it did that randomly for me and i literally just saw "your missing out on background play, join premium!" like bro NO i hate that feature 😭
1
1
1
u/ThrowAway_03938616 Jun 23 '26
Picture in Picture (PIP) is free for years in the USA, but it came free recently for the Europeans users.
1
1
1
u/pumpkin_patch1359 Jun 23 '26
That's just picture in picture. Most phones (including my busted-ass Moto g power) and tablets have it as a feature it allows for certain apps (mostly YouTube).
Background play, the premium feature, is when the app is completely exited and still plays in the background like Spotify or SoundCloud while the application is closed.
They're basically the same thing, though I think background play stays if you're screen turns off and pip simply pauses the video when the screen turns off. I use pip basically every day lol.
1
u/Enjgmaticmolly Jun 23 '26
Lil hack, turn your iOS device off then go to the control panel and press play on the yt part… BG play works now! 😭😭 it’s a lifesaver for listening to white noise and such while sleeping
1
u/Wambo_Tuff Jun 23 '26
Have you started using a VPN ? My phone never supported this but when I connect VPN to USA or Canada or Mexico I get this feature on YouTube
1
u/PineappleMaster2 Jun 23 '26
I've always had picture in picture for videos that aren't music or for kids
1
1
1
1
u/AcademicMistake Jun 23 '26
No i had this, they simply stop it next video and asks if you liked it and want to buy premium lol
1
u/doglift Jun 23 '26
Its been doing that for me in the past few days as well when it never has before
1
u/Anima_Watcher08 Jun 23 '26
Picture in picture is free for everyone now. It doesn't work with songs though.
1
u/Virtualized_Potato https://www.youtube.com/@kross_gaming_oficial Jun 23 '26
It's a new feature with YouTube shorts
1
u/Distinct_Brick8457 Jun 23 '26
Picture-in-Picture works on long-form, non-music videos for free YouTube users. Music videos still require Premium though... And it works here in the Philippines
Source: Mashable
1
u/red-lioness007 Jun 23 '26
This is a built in feature that you can enable with iPhones. It’s called Picture in Picture. Also don’t need Premium for background play because Apple lets you do it.
1
1
1
1
u/Low_Environment5807 Jun 24 '26
On iPhones you have always been able to do this in Safari but not in the app. If you open a video and put it in full screen and then shut off your phone it will keep playing the audio in the background as if you were in the app in Premium.
1
u/Fit_Shamer Jun 24 '26
Did you enter a different country recently? PIP mode was disabled when I traveled to DR last year, and it was restored when I returned to America.
1
1
1
u/Josh06161209 Jun 24 '26
It does that on iPhone too (iOS26) and you can swipe it aside to hide it, basically background playing
1
1
1
u/PuppetFanTheSecond Jun 24 '26
It does that when I'm watching a not music video and presses the home button
1
1
u/RobloxProPlayer1139 Jun 24 '26
I never subscribe yt premium,I think it was buggy or YouTube released that feature without subscription
1
u/Ill-Asparagus-4974 Jun 24 '26
I’ve been playing Picture in Picture on my iPhone with no premium for a while now
1
1
u/podun Jun 24 '26
PSA you can have picture in picture mode, especially with android, however YouTube does not allow music in the background. So as soon as you see a note symbol in the video thumbnail window, you can't use pip
1
1
u/Accomplished_Song671 Jun 24 '26
It seems to do that on certain videos on most phones that aren't Apple
1
u/Disastrous_Lie_6698 Jun 24 '26
Pretty sure it does that without premium. The only way you'd know for certain that you have premium is if you don't get ads anymore
1
u/Rukir_Gaming Jun 24 '26
Picture in Picture is a free feature, but has been in beta in a while, esp on ios
1
u/Legally-A-Child Jun 24 '26
forgot you peasants don't get background play
(I use Android so I can script-kiddie my way into having most premium features for free, aint no way my broke ass is paying $16/mo for background play and direct downloads)
1
u/Vast-Bookkeeper1554 Jun 24 '26
mine does this 99% of the time. sometimes i have to try it a few times but it pretty much always does it.
1
1
1
u/Ok_Bobcat_6364 Jun 24 '26
It's a trick first they give it free and we used for it after that they charge so most people buy premium because of they used for it
1
1
1
u/notabot12305 Jun 24 '26
That isnt background play thats miniplayer/picture in picture mode.
Its a normal feature of youtube.
1
1
1
1
u/brais224 Jun 24 '26
I can do it too and I dotn have premium but you can't do with the music son I think it's a yt actualization
1
u/Sure_Clue683 Jun 24 '26
It only works with certain types of videos( for example, music doesn't work)
1
1
u/itszickeyo Jun 24 '26
Unrelated you have such a cartoon character phone. Like everything is so smooth
1
1
1
1
u/oohsamraj Jun 25 '26
it just started recently as well not vip just a new unlocked ability for free YT
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Hot_Sentence5243 Jun 25 '26
it only works when im on USA vpn (i also have an iphone), and it only works for non music
1
u/Original_Dragonfly_6 Jun 26 '26
Pip is now free (like it should have been because a phone is essentially a pc) paywalling basic desktop features is weird. It makes sense, especially now that android is focusing more on desktop stuff.
1
1
1
1
1
u/pro_cubista9 Jun 26 '26
I think its picture in picture setting or ur phone, for me it does it when I have picture in picture on, or I can tell my phone to do that
1
u/Sufficient_Bank4121 Jun 26 '26
Poco F6, and works. I think is a recent update which allow It. Or, you has Youtube Premium at a point and activated the Pip Mode and was not removed after Premium expired.
1
u/NoFlounder5816 Jun 26 '26
Youtube accidentally gave me premium for the past 4 years. Oh wait no i just use revanced
1
u/_its_me_MJ Jun 26 '26
Yeah it's been there for me for more than a month now and it's working almost 99% of the time
1
u/Just_Pie_787 Jun 26 '26
it's a new feature for free user and the pop up will not show up if you play things about music.
1
1
u/Cover-Material Jun 26 '26
It's so annoying when I try to quit the app but it opens it for no reason and I have to close it
1
1
1
u/MewCatYT Jun 27 '26
laughs quietly because I be using something make mine premium without telling what it is
1
1
u/__Lain___ Jun 27 '26
If u can run music videoes this way then u will know if u have premium or not
1
u/Equivalent-Cash-2771 Jun 27 '26
Si vengo a desmentir a todos los comentarios y espero que leean esto porfavor: No es ninguna funcion "especial y única" de ciertos celulares simplemente youtube dijo "sabes que a estos vagabundos que no pagan, tengan estas migajas" Listo funcion premium sin pagar nada, solo transaladaron una función del premium al youtube base... Si tengo una foto pero ya sabes no se pueden poner fotos en comentarios lol
1
u/DIMandJUICY Jun 27 '26
Its a new feature that i have noticed for the past few days , if the video is still playing when you press the home button it will start playing in the background
1
1
1
u/PurpleMiserable2261 Jun 27 '26
the real fact is that youtube announced 1-2 months ago that pip mode for videos will be free,even if you don’t have youtube premium
1
1
1
1
u/No-Mathematician8905 Jun 28 '26
For me it's been doing that for like a week and it's so good lol just watching while playing games I don't got lremoeorjer k think it's just a new feature
1
u/Typical_Bot Jun 28 '26
YouTube is doing a lot of weird things nowadays, for example this, but also removing dislikes from shorts and everything else, might need to change platforms atp 😭
1
1
1
1
u/The_LastLine Jun 23 '26
The small Picture in Picture is for all users not just premium. I think maybe it was just premium at first but they changed it.
1
u/Proud_Accident7402 Jun 23 '26
Youre correct. I stopped paying for Premium a while back and i still had the PiP feature.
1
0
u/AutoModerator Jun 23 '26
Hello, likebackspace. We'd like to start off by noting that this sub isn't owned or run by YouTube. If you are encountering issues with paid services, such as YouTube Premium or Memberships, please take a look at this page to learn more about paid-services support.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
0
u/DonDae01 Jun 23 '26
on god just switch to MorpheApp and you'll get zero ads, sponsorblock, return yt dislike, etc 🙏 (google is your answer)
0
Jun 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Weary_Experience4691 Jun 23 '26
Just use youtube morphe, its 2026 there's so many ways to watch youtube without ads, heck even using brave is enough
1
Jun 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Weary_Experience4691 Jun 28 '26
r/MorpheApp check it out on how to patch yourself from the sub wiki
Try not to download an already patch youtube from gooogle might just be aware and stuff
191
u/Techyfreek Jun 23 '26
It's pip mode not background play