YouTube has officially put an end to the free background playback feature in third-party mobile browsers like Samsung Internet, Vivaldi, Brave, and Edge, according to a report by Tech Advisor. This change means that only YouTube Premium subscribers will have access to this feature going forward. Plans for YouTube Premium start from £7.99/$7.99 per month for students.
A spokesperson from Google, which owns YouTube, explained that background playback was designed to be exclusive for YouTube Premium members. While some non-Premium users were able to utilize this feature through mobile web browsers in the past, YouTube has now updated the experience to ensure consistency across all platforms. This move effectively closes any loopholes that allowed non-Premium users to play YouTube videos in the background for free.
If you want to continue listening to YouTube while using other apps or platforms, you will now need to subscribe to YouTube Premium. In the UK, subscription plans start at £7.99/$7.99 per month for students, £12.99/$13.99 per month for individuals, and £19.99/$22.99 per month for a family subscription. There is also the option of Premium Lite, which provides ad-free videos across all content types except music and shorts.
Recently, users of browsers such as Samsung Internet, Vivaldi, Brave, and Microsoft Edge noticed that the background playback mode had stopped working. Some Firefox users attempted a temporary solution by changing the browser’s user agent, but this workaround may not work for everyone and could have already ceased to be effective.
In light of these changes, it is clear that YouTube is taking steps to ensure that the background playback feature remains exclusive to Premium subscribers. This move may disappoint non-Premium users who have been accustomed to enjoying this feature for free. It is important for users to be aware of these changes and consider subscribing to YouTube Premium if they wish to continue using background playback on the platform.
This article was originally published on M3 and has been translated and adapted from Swedish.
