For years, YouTube has been the sole platform for online video entertainment, although it is losing some ground to new market entrants like Facebook, Google is still racking in a lot of cash with the platform. Some tactics Google uses to rack in as much as possible include the YouTube Red subscription, which not only comes with zero-ads, you can also play YouTube videos in the background on your iOS or Android device.
If you are a regular YouTube user, you probably have been frustrated before by the fact that you cannot play videos in the background. Perhaps when you want the YouTube mobile apps to continue playing in the background as you use other applications on your phone. Perhaps you wanted to play YouTube videos with your screen locked and off.
It turns out, there is a workaround this Google restriction on both iOS and Android devices that allows you to continue playing YouTube videos in the background.
Tricks for playing YouTube video in the background on Android devices
Play on Telegram: You might have noticed that when you click on a YouTube video link sent to you on Telegram, the messaging app opens the video right there within the chat box. That is probably no new news to most people! However, have you ever tried minimizing the Telegram app while it is playing a YouTube video? Doing so will still let you hear the music from the video, and you can continue using other applications on your phone.
This trick has one major setback; you cannot continue chatting with other contacts and have the video playback simultaneously. Additionally, you will have to send yourself the video link on Telegram, as often as you want to watch new YouTube videos. This trick only works on Android.
Dolphin browser for iOS devices: iPhone users have to contend with the third-party browser Dolphin in they want to play YouTube videos in the background. First, install the app on your iPhone, open it, start playing the YouTube video you like, then exit the app. Go to the iOS Control Center and resume playback.
Chrome browser: On an Android device, open your Chrome mobile browser, go to YouTube and change the requested site from mobile to Desktop version. Begin playback of the video and then exit the app. Go to the notification shade and resume playback.
Note; for both Dolphin (on iPhone) and Chrome browsers (on Android) you can do Play, Pause, Next, Previous at the push of a button on the Control Center and Notification Shade respectively.
The ability to play audio from YouTube in the background is a highly desired feature on mobile devices. That is why Google has preserved it for the subscription-based YouTube Red app and not the regular YouTube mobile app. Maybe if more and more people start using the tricks mentioned above to circumvent these Google restrictions, the company may just release a patch rendering the hacks impossible. That is to say, enjoy these hacks while they last.