YouTube works with Picture-in-Picture in iOS 14, but only through Safari

Wwdc 2020 Ios 14 Picture In Picture (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

YouTube works with Picture-in-Picture on iOS 14.
It is currently limited to YouTube on Safari.
Google has not indicated if its app will support the feature yet.

For those hoping to stream YouTube using Picture-in-Picture on the iPhone, the day has come - sort of. It appears that YouTube is working with Picture-in-Picture (PiP) on iOS 14, but only for videos played in the Safari app.

MacRumors posted a video of how it works. The user opened up a YouTube video in Safari on the iPhone. They started to play the video and then, after swiping up to return home, the video went into Picture-in-Picture mode.

YouTube (in Safari) works with Picture in Picture in #iOS14 — the app, not so much — but hopefully by September. pic.twitter.com/nApmFwAqMMYouTube (in Safari) works with Picture in Picture in #iOS14 — the app, not so much — but hopefully by September. pic.twitter.com/nApmFwAqMM— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) June 25, 2020 June 25, 2020

The YouTube app, however, is not working with the feature yet. Google has not indicated if they will support Picture-in-Picture for the YouTube app on the iPhone. Currently, users can stream the audio of a YouTube video in the background on iOS, but that feature is reserved for subscribers of YouTube Premium.

It appears that other major video app developers are already looking into supporting Picture-in-Picture when iOS 14 releases to the public this fall. Jordanna Kwok, Engineering Manager at Netflix, tweeted that she has added support for the feature to the company's plans for its iOS app.

Fantastic #WWDC20 Keynote! Already added a TODO to support iPhone Picture-in-Picture (PiP) in the Netflix app 😉 Still have a lot of questions around other new innovations like AirPod Pro spatial audio. Excited to learn more about them this week!Fantastic #WWDC20 Keynote! Already added a TODO to support iPhone Picture-in-Picture (PiP) in the Netflix app 😉 Still have a lot of questions around other new innovations like AirPod Pro spatial audio. Excited to learn more about them this week!— Jordanna Kwok (@jordeewok) June 22, 2020 June 22, 2020

We'll have to wait and see if the YouTube app supports Picture-in-Picture on iOS 14 and, even if it does if it would be limited to YouTube Premium subscribers. If so, we at least seem to have a workaround by streaming through Safari.

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.

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