How to use Picture In Picture Mode in YouTube for Free
About this QuickTip
You can now use YouTube Picture in Picture on iPhone for free. That means you can watch YouTube videos while texting, browsing, or using other apps. This step-by-step guide shows how to enable PiP in iOS settings and inside the YouTube app, how the floating player works, and why it doesn’t work with music videos.
Transcript
Hi, it’s Jacob here. YouTube has finally made one of its best Premium features available completely free.
Picture in Picture lets you keep watching videos even when you leave the app, playing in a floating window that you can move anywhere on screen. That means you can check emails, scroll Instagram, or do anything else without pausing your video. And it only takes a few seconds to turn on.
There is one catch, but I’ll come back to that in a moment.
First, head into the Settings app on your iPhone. Tap on General, then select Picture in Picture. Make sure this is turned on, as it works across apps on your iPhone, not just YouTube.
Next, open the YouTube app. Tap on the You tab in the bottom corner - your profile - then tap Settings at the top. From here, go into Playback, and you’ll find another toggle for Picture in Picture. Make sure this is turned on as well.
Quick side note - if you haven’t already subscribed to iPhone QuickTips, now’s a great time to fix that.
Once everything is enabled, simply swipe out of YouTube, and there it is. Your video keeps playing in a floating window. You can drag it around, resize it with a pinch, swipe it off to the side, or tap it to jump straight back into the app.
Now, this feature is still rolling out globally for free, so let me know in the comments if you’ve got it yet.
And here’s the catch - it works with most videos, but not music videos. Unfortunately, those won’t play in Picture in Picture on the free version due to licensing restrictions.
Even so, for everything else, this is a huge new feature in YouTube.
Technical details: This QuickTip was recorded on an iPhone 17 Pro Max running iOS 26.4 in May 2026.
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