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How to Watch YouTube Videos with Screen Off in Android

Would you like to know how to play videos on Youtube without the screen being visible? This guide will tell you how to watch YouTube videos with a screen off in Android.

Youtube is one of the most popular and well-known sources of entertainment. Day by day, more and more people are getting attracted to this app. The app, however, requires them to use it to remain logged in. Most people listen to a variety of songs from this app around the world. But what if they want to hear it with their screen off?

YouTube offers different content across a wide range of categories, including tutorials, music videos, and TV shows. You don’t necessarily have to watch YouTube – sometimes, all you want is to listen to it in the background while you do something else on your phone. But you have to turn the screen on if you’re going to listen to the song from YouTube.

Currently, you can’t listen to a YouTube video in the background if you close the YouTube app. But by using a few minor workarounds, you’ll be able to do just that. You can also get a mini YouTube player while you’re browsing elsewhere if you subscribe to YouTube Premium.

Why Use YouTube Premium?

YouTube Premium is a subscription service that removes ads from desktops and mobile devices, opens exclusive videos to users, and allows users to download videos. Moreover, you can keep listening even when you turn off your phone screen or navigate to a different app for our purposes.

The YouTube Premium subscription comes with ad-free access to YouTube Music (a replacement for Google Play Music), and it also enables you to turn off the screen in that app. Is there a catch? You might expect that it has to do with money. It will cost you $12 a month for a single user or $18 a month for six or more users – but you can get a free trial for one month. There is a YouTube app for iOS and Android, as well as a desktop version.

Watch YouTube Videos Screen Off Android — How to Watch YouTube Videos with Screen Off in Android

How to Watch YouTube Videos with Screen Off in Android

While using other apps or while our phone is locked, we all want YouTube to play in the background. But in the YouTube mobile app, you cannot do that unless you are a YouTube Premium member. This application offers several songs and podcasts you won’t find anywhere else. Sometimes YouTube won’t let you listen to the audio without watching the video continuously, which can be pretty frustrating.

YouTube Music is available for a monthly subscription price of around $12 per month. If you want YouTube Music to play in the background, you must subscribe. The official YouTube app does not allow users to play videos in the environment when their screens are locked or turned off. YouTube Premium, however, will enable you to watch videos through these methods while using other applications.:

Using Picture-In-Picture mode
Using Firefox or Google Chrome

Let’s see how they work.

1] Using Picture-In-Picture mode

All Android devices running version 8.0 Oreo and higher automatically enable picture-in-picture mode.

Follow these steps to turn on picture-in-picture mode:

Navigate to the settings of your Android device and select Apps & notifications > Advanced Special app access > Picture-in-picture. (These steps can vary depending on the device you own)
If you can’t find Picture-in-picture mode, simply search in the search bar located at the top of the settings screen.
Tap the YouTube icon.
Tap Allow picture-in-picture to enable it.

You can dismiss picture-in-picture in two different ways:

Tap the PiP player to reveal the controls.
Tap the X in the top-right corner of the video PiP player.

2] Using Firefox or Google Chrome

Below is a step-by-step guide to playing YouTube videos in the background or without a screen. If you follow these steps correctly, you can play videos with screen off.

On your Android phone, you need to download the Firefox or Google Chrome apps. Google Chrome and Firefox are both supported by this trick.
Type the URL www.youtube.com on Google Chrome browser.
Click on the menu button in Chrome > Choose Request Desktop Site.
Now, find your favorite YouTube video that you’d like to play in the background and click play.
Tap the Home Screen button when the video is playing in full-screen mode.
Tap Play in the control centre after you swipe the screen up. After that, swipe down the control centre and carry on with your work.
You can watch the video in the background or without turning on the screen.

YouTube videos can now be viewed and heard on other browsers or apps while you do other tasks.

Apps to Play YouTube in Background

You can use these apps as a YouTube background app to play your favorite YouTube videos in the background while you’re doing other stuff.

Floating Tube
New Pipe
Brave Browser
OG YouTube
Free music for YouTube: Stream
YMusic
Safari Browser

1] Floating Tube

The floating tube application for Android allows you to play videos from YouTube from a floating toolbar by using the picture in picture format. With this app, you can view your video on a small screen that can be viewed over another app. The first time you launch it, you will need to enable the Display over other apps permission. It’s a pretty popular app with over a million downloads on the Play store.

This app lets you play your favorite YouTube videos and minimize them into a small, insignificant floating toolbar. Altering the preview size in the settings menu will also allow you to change the size of your video.

Within the Floating Tube application, you can first watch your favorite YouTube video and then minimize it to open other applications, like Facebook, for chatting with your friends, and you can even browse Instagram.

You won’t have any trouble adjusting to Floating Tube since its interface resembles the official YouTube app. All you need to do is find and play the song or music video you want to hear. The video will begin playing with a small toolbar that can be resized or moved as you wish. The only annoying thing is that it seems a bit laggy at times, and there are many full-screen ads. The developer can, however, be supported by purchasing in-app purchases to remove ads.

Download: Floating Tube

Pros:

A familiar and easy-to-use interface.
Video player that is movable and resizable.
Players can be locked on a screen by using this feature.
Free, in-app purchases included.

Cons:

Buffer and loading issues.
Sometimes it can be not very pleasant while using essential apps.
Shows full-screen interstitial ads.

2] New Pipe

New Pipe is an excellent application for running YouTube videos in the background. One downside is that the app isn’t available on either the play store or the app store. You will have to download it from F-droid, which is only available for Android.

It is a highly recommended tool that allows you to browse YouTube videos with ease, and its similar design will make you not notice a difference. You’re constantly updated on the latest trending videos without switching apps since the trending tab is fetched directly from YouTube.

Additionally, you will receive videos from channels that you subscribe to through a subscription feed. Furthermore, you can bookmark playlists, which will then appear as an option on the app. Users who want to play songs on the go will appreciate this feature, which allows them to bookmark playlists with the new songs.

If you’d like to play a YouTube video in the background, search for the video in New Pipe and click the Play button. From the notification panel, you can control the playback of the video, which starts playing automatically in the background. Additionally, there is a Popup mode with a picture-in-picture feature similar to Floating Tube.

One of the disadvantages of New Pipe is that you cannot sync your Google account with this app, and as a result, you can’t comment on videos or like/dislike them. Android devices rarely experience crashes when using New Pipe, and it runs fine on most of them. Best of all, New Pipe is ad-free; however, you can donate to support its development if you wish.

Download: New Pide on F-Droid

Pros:

1080p/2k/4k support.
Watch age-restricted material.
It’s free of cost.

Cons:

Not available on the play store.
No Google account sync.
Cannot comment, like or interact with videos.

3] Brave Browser

A brave browser allows users to browse the web, playing YouTube videos in the background when the screen is off, even when the device is not actively connected to the internet. Android and iOS users can download it separately, which is a positive sign for iOS users.

Open Brave Browser Settings > Site Settings > Media and enable Background video playback to make Brave Browser play YouTube in the background. You can play YouTube videos without making additional adjustments to your device once you enable background video playback.

By typing https://www.youtube.com/ into the browser address bar, open the YouTube website and search for the video you wish to listen to and play in the background. When you minimize Brace Browser, you’ll hear the audio running in the background. The video will keep playing even if you minimize Brace Browser. Similarly, you can pause and play content from an Android notification panel and within the Control Center on an iOS device.

In Brave browser, the best feature is the built-in ad-blocker, which is remarkably effective at blocking ads. In addition, it blocks ads on YouTube, which is an outstanding feature since you can listen to your favorite songs uninterrupted. Over 10 million people have downloaded the browser, which has a rating of 4.3 on average.

Download: Brave Browser

Pros:

It works well as a browser.
It comes with an adblocker built-in.
There is support for private tabs.

Cons:

YouTube is not optimized for running on this computer.
It lacks the feel of a native application.

4] OG YouTube

A second unavailable app is OG YouTube, neither in the App Store nor available for iOS devices. In the meantime, it is a beautiful way to play YouTube in the background when the screen is off. You can adjust the playback of videos on an Android device through the notification panel, which is useful when you want to pause, play, or fast-forward the video.

You can even watch videos while browsing other apps because of the picture-in-picture effect in this app. The original YouTube app looks remarkably similar to the original YouTube app, with only two new buttons for background play and picture in picture.

You must download the APK file and install it on your Android phone to install OG YouTube. On your first attempt, OG YouTube will redirect you to another app to download to use it. As a result of some issues with YouTube’s license agreement, OG YouTube is no longer supported and will no longer receive updates. Additionally, make sure you are allowed to install APK files from unknown sources on your phone.

Download: Download OG YouTube APK

Pros:

To import playlists, you need a YouTube login.
A variety of features make it easy to use.
It is free of cost.

Cons:

It is not available on the play store and must be downloaded externally.
Updates will not be made in the future.

5] Free music for YouTube: Stream

You can play YouTube videos in a small popup window with the free music for the YouTube Android app. While browsing any other app on your device, the popup window remains on the screen. By dragging it anywhere on the screen, you can control the position of the popup video. A music player is also available, which allows you to play audio right from the lock screen.

You can also sync your Facebook music preferences with Stream to get free music for YouTube. This app focuses on YouTube music, with a list of the top charts so you can see which track is trending in your area at the moment.

Moreover, you can schedule when songs should be shared, and you can even plan your streaming accordingly. Additionally, the app gives you fantastic music recommendations to listen to and lets you watch YouTube videos in HD. There have been over ten million downloads of Free Music Stream, which has consistently received a 4.5 rating on the Play Store.

Pros:

Music lovers will find a variety of valuable features in this application.
A good recommendation for music.
The ability to create playlists with great flexibility.
It’s free to use.

Cons:

It may take up quite a bit of screen space to display the popup window.
iOS users cannot access the application.

6] YMusic

YMusic can play YouTube videos in the background while also playing songs on your phone offline. You can also use it to browse the internet for YouTube videos. You can therefore use YMusic on your smartphone just like any other music streaming app. If you want to see the latest songs filtered by your location, you’ll need to discover the home page and the trending tab. It is straightforward for you to change your site at any given time via YMusic Settings.

There is an essential difference: Only the audio portion is played, not the video. The thumbnail of the video is all that is displayed. In case your data plan is limited, you can use this feature to save data. The trending tab always features the latest songs and keeps up with the latest music news. There is no YMusic app in the Play store, but you can download it from the official website. Unfortunately, it’s also not available for iOS devices.

Download: Download YMusic

Pros:

It saves bandwidth and works well even on slow connections.
The application includes all the required features.
It is freely available.

Cons:

This app is not available on the Play Store or for iOS devices.
Not suitable for watching music videos.

7] Safari Browser

With your iPhone or iPad, you can listen to YouTube videos in the background with screen off using the Safari browser. With some simple tweaks, you can also use this to listen to music from YouTube as well.

You have to follow few steps on iOS if you wish to play YouTube in the background. Go to the YouTube website in the Safari browser and reload it in the desktop mode by clicking on the Share icon and choosing Request Desktop Site.

Press the Home button or swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimize the Safari browser after searching and playing the song. Upon starting the download, the music will start playing in the background, and you can pause and resume directly from the Control Center.

Pros: