In February, Major League Baseball introduced multitasking to its At Bat iPad app, allowing users to view its video inside the app while using Slide Over and Split View as well as outside the app with picture-in-picture. MLB tells TechCrunch that the adoption of the features has had a "profound impact" on live video consumption on iPad.

mlbmultitasking
During the first two weeks of the current baseball season, MLB found that fans who had the multitasking update spent 20 more minutes per day watching live video on the iPad compared to last year. On average, fans who used the new multitasking options while watching video were spending 162 minutes a day watching MLB's content, which is an 86 percent increase from last year. Fans who did not use the multitasking features while watching video watched an average of 101 minutes per day.

MLB's data was only counted on iPads that support full multitasking capabilities, like the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4, although Slide Over is also available on the iPad Air and the iPad mini 2 and later. As noted by TechCrunch, MLB's app was already the most consumed app in terms of minutes, with users watching 6.9 million minutes of content during the 2015 regular season. ESPN was in second place with 6.1 million minutes.

MLB At Bat is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Traverse Avatar
128 months ago
Sounds like something Youtube should take note of.
I use Tubex. It's very similar to the Google app, but supports all of the iOS' key feature, and the best part is that it doesn't launch every time you tap a YouTube link in Safari.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appledefenceforce Avatar
128 months ago
Sounds like something Youtube should take note of.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
128 months ago
Who cares....
Well, it would appear that you cared enough to post...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NT1440 Avatar
128 months ago
Maybe Apple should make multitasking part of the OS instead of depending on developers to update their apps. Same problem Samsung had with split view on the Note phones, only a handful of apps can use that feature cause it depends on the app developer adding support.
They did. ALL YouTube has to do is use the standard video APIs and PiP is supported. They don't use it, probably not enough data collection for them.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rigormortis Avatar
128 months ago
this is why sling tv and netflix don't support picture in picture, because you would watch it more!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appledefenceforce Avatar
128 months ago
I use Tubex. It's very similar to the Google app, but supports all of the iOS' key feature, and the best part is that it doesn't launch every time you tap a YouTube link in Safari.
I also use Tubex. No ads in videos, PIP and split view support.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
imac video apple feature

Apple Makes Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever

Tuesday February 3, 2026 12:45 pm PST by
Apple recently acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to Financial Times sources. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019....
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...