4 ms·

I would love the ability to leave a video playing on my phone when I turn the screen off. I often will listen to a song but as soon as the app minimizes or the

I would love the ability to leave a video playing on my phone when I turn the screen off. I often will listen to a song but as soon as the app minimizes or the phone goes to sleep mode, it stops.

rekuplex 10y ago
The app doesn't allow that, but if your browse youtube trough Firefox, you can do it.
- EdSharkey 10y ago
  add &player=html5 to the end of the YouTube url in Firefox too to get a stutter-free playback of audio (and I suspect better battery life too.)
  - niij 10y ago
    Youtube has been streaming HTML5 by default for around a year now [0]. [0]: https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/youtube-goes-html5-flash-is-now-deader/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/youtube-goes-html5-flash-i...
joncalhoun 10y ago
You can do this on Android. At least I can, as a Google music subscriber (so I have YouTube Red). I just tested it with a random video.
- macspoofing 10y ago
  And if you're not in US?
  - joncalhoun 10y ago
    No idea. Sorry :(
  - tarancato 10y ago
    Xposed
  - Sylos 10y ago
    This app can do it: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpi...
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  Why isn't this a free feature though?
  - joncalhoun 10y ago
    I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with them not being able to show you ads when you video ads when your screen is minimized. Or maybe it is to prevent people from using youtube as an alternative to paying for google music. Regardless, I posted my original comment because it seems a bit disingenuous to say that this feature isn't available when it is (at least in the US). You just have to pay for it.
  - r00fus 10y ago
    Good question, one that probably has less to do with what Google wants, and what the music industry requires. If you turn off the screen, the "video" is indistinguishable from an audio stream. So they want to track for terms of royalties paid per "listen". This is only feasible on a subscription basis (no one has a good microtransaction model with actual payments) and so Google and the music industry limited the feature to only subscription based.
    - Cyph0n 10y ago
      But since Google owns the Android platform, they could make YouTube track usage even when it's off-screen (paused Android activity), right? Heck, that may even be feasible without special privileges. Not sure about iOS though. I mean, if I can minimize a tab running YouTube on my PC, I don't see why I can't do that on my phone.
  - Sylos 10y ago
    Because why should it be? People are willing to pay for it. This is especially also the case, as Google could abuse some sentence in the YouTube API ToS, which prohibits the separation of audio and video, to get rid of third-party YouTube apps which offered this functionality for free before YouTube Red became a thing. If those had been around, they couldn't really have charged money for it. There are still a few of those apps available on non-Play-Store-stores, as Google would have had to deal with legal entities to get rid of those (and would have probably lost), but most people never use alternative stores, so that's not really a problem for Google. One of those apps is NewPipe, if you want it for free: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpi...
seccess 10y ago
This is a Youtube Red feature. Not sure why it isn't part of core Youtube (perhaps its related to not being able to show ads to users with the screen off?).
ino 10y ago
You can do that with safari on iOS if tou don't have the YouTube app installed. It works with any mp4 or mp3 stream too. And you can use other apps, browse other apps or lock the phone and have the controls on the lock screen. Let it play, minimize the video, switch tab or app or whatever, pull up the bottom controls and click play.

I would love the ability to leave a video playing on my phone when I turn the screen off. I often will listen to a song but as soon as the app minimizes or the phone goes to sleep mode, it stops.

rekuplex 10y ago

The app doesn't allow that, but if your browse youtube trough Firefox, you can do it.

EdSharkey 10y ago
add &player=html5 to the end of the YouTube url in Firefox too to get a stutter-free playback of audio (and I suspect better battery life too.)
- niij 10y ago
  Youtube has been streaming HTML5 by default for around a year now [0]. [0]: https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/youtube-goes-html5-flash-is-now-deader/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/youtube-goes-html5-flash-i...

joncalhoun 10y ago

You can do this on Android. At least I can, as a Google music subscriber (so I have YouTube Red). I just tested it with a random video.

macspoofing 10y ago
And if you're not in US?
- joncalhoun 10y ago
  No idea. Sorry :(
- tarancato 10y ago
  Xposed
- Sylos 10y ago
  This app can do it: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpi...
Cyph0n 10y ago
Why isn't this a free feature though?
- joncalhoun 10y ago
  I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with them not being able to show you ads when you video ads when your screen is minimized. Or maybe it is to prevent people from using youtube as an alternative to paying for google music. Regardless, I posted my original comment because it seems a bit disingenuous to say that this feature isn't available when it is (at least in the US). You just have to pay for it.
- r00fus 10y ago
  Good question, one that probably has less to do with what Google wants, and what the music industry requires. If you turn off the screen, the "video" is indistinguishable from an audio stream. So they want to track for terms of royalties paid per "listen". This is only feasible on a subscription basis (no one has a good microtransaction model with actual payments) and so Google and the music industry limited the feature to only subscription based.
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    But since Google owns the Android platform, they could make YouTube track usage even when it's off-screen (paused Android activity), right? Heck, that may even be feasible without special privileges. Not sure about iOS though. I mean, if I can minimize a tab running YouTube on my PC, I don't see why I can't do that on my phone.
- Sylos 10y ago
  Because why should it be? People are willing to pay for it. This is especially also the case, as Google could abuse some sentence in the YouTube API ToS, which prohibits the separation of audio and video, to get rid of third-party YouTube apps which offered this functionality for free before YouTube Red became a thing. If those had been around, they couldn't really have charged money for it. There are still a few of those apps available on non-Play-Store-stores, as Google would have had to deal with legal entities to get rid of those (and would have probably lost), but most people never use alternative stores, so that's not really a problem for Google. One of those apps is NewPipe, if you want it for free: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpipe https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.schabi.newpi...

seccess 10y ago

This is a Youtube Red feature. Not sure why it isn't part of core Youtube (perhaps its related to not being able to show ads to users with the screen off?).

ino 10y ago

You can do that with safari on iOS if tou don't have the YouTube app installed. It works with any mp4 or mp3 stream too. And you can use other apps, browse other apps or lock the phone and have the controls on the lock screen. Let it play, minimize the video, switch tab or app or whatever, pull up the bottom controls and click play.