iOS 14 Picture in Picture No Longer Working With YouTube's Mobile Website in Safari [Without Premium]

by

Apple in iOS 14 added Picture in Picture to the iPhone, a feature designed to let you watch a video in a small screen on your device while you continue to do other things on the phone.

pictureinpicturesafari2

When Picture in Picture was working with YouTube

The YouTube app doesn't support Picture in Picture, but up until yesterday there was a functional workaround that allowed videos from YouTube.com to be watched in Safari in Picture in Picture mode.

As of today, that workaround is gone, and it's not clear if it's a bug or a deliberate removal. Attempting to use Picture in Picture on a video on the mobile YouTube website simply doesn't work. Tapping the Picture in Picture button when in full screen mode pops the video out for a second, but it immediately pops back into the website, so it can't be used as a Picture in Picture window.


Picture in Picture works with YouTube.com on the iPad, and YouTube videos embedded on third-party sites such as MacRumors.com appear to be able to play in Picture in Picture mode, but Picture in Picture is not functioning on the YouTube website.

We tested Picture in Picture with YouTube just yesterday for a Picture in Picture tutorial video and as you can see below, it was working fine. Since then there have been no updates to iOS or Safari, so it's not clear what's going on.


For now, Picture in Picture is no longer working with the mobile YouTube website, but there is another workaround. If you request desktop site on YouTube.com in Safari, you can get Picture in Picture to work as intended.

Update: Picture in Picture appears to work on the mobile YouTube website in Safari for those who are YouTube Premium subscribers, which suggests that the restriction is intentional and not a bug.

Related Roundups: iOS 14, iPadOS 14
Tags: YouTube, Picture in Picture
Related Forum: iOS 14

Top Rated Comments

JM Avatar
JM
13 months ago
Because YouTube is... pick your derogatory term.

Remember when they took away the ability to play audio of videos with the screen off?
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HeavenDynamic Avatar
HeavenDynamic
13 months ago
These guys are fast when it comes to make you want to pay for Premium.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tymmz Avatar
Tymmz
13 months ago
Fair enough. I started paying for Premium. Got fed up with the ads and I DO watch a lot of YouTube. Worth the price.

EDIT: I think YouTube removed this feature to get more people to sign up to Premium.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Martinpa Avatar
Martinpa
13 months ago

What’s so hard about adding it on YouTube. I don’t understand.
It’s not that it’s hard, it’s that they want you to pay for a premium membership, in which they’ll bundle expected features like PiP and audio playback while the screen is off.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bistroengine Avatar
Bistroengine
13 months ago
This and no 4K content on the tvOS 14 YouTube app yet sounds like Google actively working against these new features Apple is trying to roll out.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
useless.misc Avatar
useless.misc
13 months ago
Might be some magic on Google's end to reinforce that you should upgrade to YT Premium to view anything outside the app/page.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Top Stories

apple music personal radio stations

Apple Music Scraps Personalized Artwork for Personal Radio Stations

Friday March 19, 2021 8:41 am PDT by
Apple Music appears to have removed the personalized artwork for Apple Music's personal radio stations feature, replacing users' artwork with a uniform graphic. Personalized algorithmic radio stations is a popular Apple Music feature that auto-generates a custom radio station for a user based on their listening habits and preferences. Apple Music previously generated a custom personal...
Read Full Article • 35 comments
maxresdefault

Security Researcher Earns $100,000 for Safari Exploit in Pwn2Own Hacking Contest

Thursday April 8, 2021 2:36 pm PDT by
Each year, the Zero Day Initiative hosts a "Pwn2Own" hacking contest where security researchers can earn money for finding serious vulnerabilities in major platforms like Windows and macOS. This 2021 Pwn2Own virtual event kicked off earlier this week and featured 23 separate hacking attempts across 10 different products including web browsers, virtualization, servers, and more. A three-day...
Read Full Article • 27 comments
UseSaveToPhotosOptionPreviewingImageInGmail

Gmail to Let Users Save Image Attachments Directly to Google Photos

Thursday May 27, 2021 3:11 am PDT by
Google is adding a new "Save to Photos" button to Gmail that, when pressed, automatically saves emailed picture attachments to Google Photos. The new feature means Gmail users will no longer have to download photo attachments from messages in order to manually back them up to Google Photos. The "Save to Photos" option will go alongside the existing "Add to Drive" button that appears when...
Read Full Article • 9 comments
Apple TV 4k 60fps YouTube Feature

YouTube Enables 4K Video Playback at 60FPS on New Apple TV 4K

Friday May 21, 2021 8:16 am PDT by
Enabled by the new and more powerful Apple TV 4K, YouTube has enabled 4K video playback at 60 frames per second for its Apple TV app, rather than the previously capped 30 frames per second. YouTube rolled out 4K support for its Apple TV app in October; however, to much disappointment to users, playback was limited to only 30 frames per second. Thanks to the new powerful A12 Bionic...
Read Full Article • 96 comments
watchos 8 fitness

Apple Watch Introducing New Tai Chi and Pilates Workout Types in watchOS 8

Monday June 7, 2021 11:21 am PDT by
Apple today announced a few workout-related features coming to watchOS 8 and Apple Fitness+. Starting with watchOS 8, users will be able to track Tai Chi and Pilates workout styles on their Apple Watch. Apple said that the new workouts are supported by powerful custom-built heart rate and motion algorithms to provide users with accurate metrics. Apple Fitness+ is also gaining a few...
Read Full Article • 20 comments
youtube tvos app

YouTube Investigating Issue With 'Something Went Wrong' Error in Apple TV App

Monday March 22, 2021 9:04 am PDT by
In recent days, some Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD users have been receiving a "something went wrong" error message when attempting to load videos using the YouTube app on tvOS. The issue does not appear to be widespread, and it seems to arise only when a user is signed into their YouTube account on the Apple TV. YouTube has confirmed on Twitter that it is investigating the issue and working...
Read Full Article • 46 comments
maxresdefault

Handy iPhone and iPad Shortcuts You Should Check Out

Friday March 19, 2021 12:31 pm PDT by
With the launch of iOS 13, Apple introduced Shortcuts support and the Shortcuts app, adding a whole range of new functionality to the iPhone. Shortcuts have continued to be popular since their debut, and in iOS 14, the addition of Home screen widgets made it even easier to get to your Shortcuts, so we thought we'd round up some of our most useful Shortcut options for iPhone and iPad. Subscribe ...
Read Full Article • 53 comments
YouTube Picture In Picture Fixed

YouTube Website's Picture-in-Picture Works Again in iOS 14.5 Beta

Wednesday February 10, 2021 3:27 am PST by
YouTube's website appears to support picture-in-picture (PiP) again in the latest iOS 14.5 beta for iPhone, although how long it will continue to work for is anybody's guess. Tests show it works in Safari as well as third-party browsers like Chrome and Firefox by expanding a video to play fullscreen, and then tapping the small picture-in-picture icon in the top-left of the interface. Then ...
Read Full Article • 61 comments
maxresdefault

Apple Event Now Available for Replay on YouTube, Introductory Videos Shared for AirTag and More

Tuesday April 20, 2021 12:46 pm PDT by
Apple today hosted its virtual "Spring Loaded" event, packing several announcements into a fast-paced, one-hour presentation, including a new iPad Pro, a redesigned iMac, a new Apple TV with a redesigned Siri Remote, the AirTag item tracker, and more. The video can be replayed in its entirety on Apple's website and on YouTube. Apple has also shared introductory videos for the new iPad Pro,...
Read Full Article • 22 comments
google photos

Google Photos Will Use Machine Learning to Animate Your Still Shots

Wednesday May 19, 2021 1:00 am PDT by
Google Photos is getting a new AI-driven feature that can take two similar pictures in your iPhone's camera roll and turn them into a single moving shot, reports The Verge. Google says the feature achieves this by using machine learning to generate additional frames between the two images, which creates the appearance of movement. If you've taken several shots in succession, for example,...
Read Full Article • 88 comments