Technology

Using YouTube Picture-in-Picture in the UK

Published

4 weeks ago

June 5, 2024

I like to use YouTube for long-form content like video essays and vlogs. Sometimes, though, I want to multitask while diving down a rabbit hole about some weird internet culture trend or crazy fandom theory.

Previously, I didn’t think this was possible without purchasing a YouTube Premium subscription. However, I accidentally came across a hack when I was testing something for another article (the grind never ends). Luckily, it’s one of the best accidental discoveries I’ve made, and very easy to do.

Watch a YouTube video via picture-in-picture

If you’ve never heard of picture-in-picture (PiP), it’s a technical term for shrinking a YouTube video so you can access other parts of your phone screen.

While some smartphones, like the iPhone, have this capability with YouTube if you watch through a browser like Safari, you may want to stay in the YouTube app for its more streamlined interface.

Fortunately, YouTube does offer this feature. The catch? It’s exclusive to people in the US.

If you are a US reader, all you need to do is enable PiP mode in your settings. When watching a video, exit the app (for example, by clicking your Home button on Android), and the video will automatically resize.

But what about the rest of us dorks in Britain and outside the US?

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Can you use YouTube Picture-in-Picture in the UK?

Yes, you can use YouTube PiP in the UK. All you need is a VPN.

This stands for virtual private network. This software redirects your IP address so you can surf the Internet as if you were from another country. However, there are plenty of other reasons why you might want to use a VPN.

For this tutorial I made one NordVPN, Tech Advisor’s top-rated provider. However, there are plenty of other options that we as a team have tried and tested.

This is cheaper than subscribing to YouTube Premium, and it also gives you plenty of other benefits, such as the ability to watch Netflix US.

Once you’ve chosen your VPN, you’ll need to do the following:

Once you have YouTube open, close the app
Connect to a US server on your VPN
Open the YouTube app, click on the ‘You’ icon at the bottom right
Click on the gear icon at the top right
Tap ‘General’, then enable ‘Picture-in-picture mode’ if it’s not enabled
Find the video you want and click play
Close the app and the video should minimize
Pinch the video to resize or move it on your screen

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Based on my experience, you always need to close a video (even if you’re halfway through watching it) for this method to work.

To get back to the app after enabling PiP, click the video once and then tap the maximize icon in the middle of the video. I didn’t have to enable the PiP setting in the app either; this was enabled by default.

For this hack I used a OnePlus 12 running Android 14, but Google says this should also work on iPhone and iPad.

As I mentioned earlier, I came across this when I was using my phone for another streaming guide, and I went to quit YouTube. I was quite surprised when I saw the PiP feature and did some digging. Of course, I just had to share my findings with TA readers.

This method is perfect for long videos, like Jenny Nicholson’s viral Star Wars hotel video essay. You can also learn how to minimize a YouTube video on iPhone so that only the audio plays while your screen is locked.