[Easy Tips] How to Play YouTube in Background on iPhone/Android?

Although YouTube is the most diversified video contents platform in the world, it also has some limitations that really annoy us. For example, what you want to do is listen to YouTube in the background on iPhone/Android, but you can't do anything else on the phone at the same time. When you navigate to another screen or open another application on your device, it will automatically pause the YouTube video you are watching or listening to.

To deal with this, this post provides you with a simple way on how to play YouTube in background on iOS and Android devices, so that you can use your mobile phone to play YouTube videos in background while doing other things.

CONTENTS

Part 1. How to Play YouTube in Background on iPhone/iPad?

At present, Safari on iOS 12 and iOS 11 supports playing YouTube video in the background. But it's important to note that when using browsers, we need some tricks to keep YouTube video playing in the background. Next, let's show you how to play YouTube videos with Safari and other browsers.

Play YouTube App in Background on iOS 11 and iOS 12

STEP 1. Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad, and move to the YouTube website to find the YouTube video you want to play in the background.

STEP 2. Tap on the Sharing action icon at the bottom of the screen, and choose "Request Desktop Site" in the action options.

STEP 3. Start playing the video in YouTube. Press the Safari Tabs button and switch to a new tab, or create a new tab and load any website.

STEP 4. Now try to press the Home button to return to the Home Screen and exit Safari, the YouTube video should keep playing. And you can pause and resume playback through the Control Center of iOS.

Use Other Browsers

To play YouTube in background on iPhone/iPad, we need the help of browser, but Safari and Chrome, which we often use, do not support to shut off the screen and continue to listen to YouTube in background on iPhone/iPad. We need other certain browsers, such as Firefox, Opera Touch and Dolphin. You can choose your favorite one or other iOS browsers you prefer.

Here's how you can get this tip to work.

STEP 1. Download the Firefox, Opera Touch or Dolphin web browser to your iOS device.

STEP 2. Open www.youtube.com in the browser.

STEP 3. Navigate to the YouTube video you want to listen to and press play. Then click the three-dot menu on the upper right to enable Desktop Site.

STEP 4. Now go back to the Home screen on your iPhone, you will find that YouTube video successfully plays in background. You can resume the playback from the iOS Control Center.

Part 2. How to Keep YouTube Playing on Android?

Chrome can perfectly help you play YouTube in background on Android. Similarly, you can also try other browsers you like.

Use the below method to play YouTube in background by yourself on Android:

STEP 1. Open www.youtube.com in the browser on an Android device.
STEP 2. Select Request Desktop Site from options (pull down the three-dot menu on the upper right corner).
STEP 3. Navigate to the YouTube video you want to listen to and press play.
STEP 4. A warning saying that YouTube wants to send you notifications will show up. Just accept it.
STEP 5. Now directly press home, open notification panel and hit the play button. YouTube will start playing in background.

Part 3. Download YouTube Videos and Play Wherever You Go

The above methods can make it easier for you to play YouTube videos in background on iPhone/Android, but one premise is that your device must have a good network connection.

So we also provide you with additional instructions on how to download YouTube videos to help you play them in anywhere at anytime without the restrictions of the network condition.

To do this, we need the help of downloading tools to download YouTube videos. We recommend you to use VidPaw, which is an excellent YouTube video and audio downloader and supports high-definition quality as well as multiple formats.

Video Download	Support to download MP4, 3GP, and WebM in 144p to 720p with sound.
Video-Only	Support to download MP4, 3GP, and WEBM in 1080p, 1440p, 2160p, and 4320p with no sound.
Audio Download	Download videos as audio files in MP3, M4A and WebM from 64kbps and up to 320kbps.
Subtitle	Download Closed Captions in a certain YouTube video.

Moreover, VidPaw is an online downloading program that currently supports to download online videos from more than 1,000 sites. Here is a list of sites supported by VidPaw.

The following are the features of VidPaw:

* Free HD video and audio downloading service
* High-quality offline contents playback
* Ad-free videos without interruptions
* Support online video streaming and search online video directly on the website
* Formats and quality are customizable

For more benefits on VidPaw, check the official website.

3.1 Free Download YouTube Videos on iPhone

STEP 1. Before downloading YouTube videos, you need to go to App Store and download Documents on your iPhone. Then you need to open Documents to launch the built-in browser and go to VidPaw.com.

Use Document to Download Videos on iPhone

STEP 2. Directly go to YouTube and search for your favorite YouTube video and copy its link. Then you should paste the URL to VidPaw download bar inside Documents. After that, tap on the "Download" button and you can select a video/audio format for the video you want to download. Finally, click on the "Download" button.

STEP 3. A pop-up window lets you edit the title of the video and select an output folder to save it inside Documents. When the selection is completed, click "Done" in the upper right corner to start downloading.

3.2 Free Download YouTube on Android

STEP 1. Open a browser on Android and head to the YouTube video you desire to download.

STEP 2. Directly copy the URL of the YouTube video from the address bar and paste the URL into the download bar on VidPaw homepage. Then tap the "Download" button to start loading the video.

STEP 3. VidPaw provides users with different formats and qualities. You can select one desired output quality in the download window, and then tap on the "Download" button. Just wait for the download to be completed, and then the YouTube video/audio can be played on your Android device.

Do you also think that the download process is easy? Just download YouTube video/audio with VidPaw to your mobile phone now. There's a good news for you - VidPaw App for Android is coming soon. Please look forward to it.

Published on March 5, 2019