7 ms·

If it's true that Chrome on Oreo genuinely prevents picture-in-picture for YouTube specifically, that's a troubling precedent to set. Why not allow all websites

If it's true that Chrome on Oreo genuinely prevents picture-in-picture for YouTube specifically, that's a troubling precedent to set. Why not allow all websites to enable/disable PiP (maybe via a meta tag, in the way that tab theme colours already work)? If I query https://m.youtube.com https://m.youtube.com while emulating a Nexus 5X, the response contains: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no, target-densityDpi=medium-dpi"> Is that what is preventing PiP on YouTube or is it some sort of underhanded inter-Google arrangement between Chrome and YouTube?

kinlan 9y ago
Shared below too. Just as a quick point and I will drop it in the article comments too. I'm the lead for our Chrome Developer Relations team. Chrome doesn't disable picture in picture for Youtube, Youtube disable it in Chrome. They listen to resize events iirc and then exit fullscreen mode (the only way to currently get to pip mode in Chrome).
- lukepothier 9y ago
  That's interesting, and a relief.
  - kinlan 9y ago
    If you are interested, there is also a spec under development at the moment to make it more explicit - https://wicg.github.io/picture-in-picture/ https://wicg.github.io/picture-in-picture/
- kuschku 9y ago
  Then Chrome should have an option to stop the resize handler from firing when entering PiP mode. The user should always have the right to override what the website is doing.
  - kinlan 9y ago
    So you would like us to not tell the page what the render is doing? I'm not sure how that would play out for any number of API's that exist on the web. Developer's have consistently had the means to override the default actions of the browser (think drag and drop) but I don't think hiding side-effects or user actions helps anyone.
    - avaer 9y ago
      I'd like to be able to tell my browser what it should tell the pages it's loading, especially if pages are leveraging it to do things against my will. That applies to blocking Google ads, as well as fixing Youtube malfeatures. Of course, it's understandable you won't see this from a browser paid for by Google. But you can't paint in broad brush strokes like "I don't think hiding side-effects or user actions helps anyone."
      - kinlan 9y ago
        I'm disputing the fact there was a casual offhand design, and I don't think hiding the state of the render or the browser helps anyone not least developers who need the information about the state of their page. I'm not saying that there can't be meaningful response from the browser to user hostile actions, I don't think anyone disagrees. There's a broader question about a user's will and the sites intent especially when it comes to business plans of the site that I'm not sure if access to features native in the browser is aligned with say ad blocking or tracking etc... I don't know.
        Aaargh20318 9y ago
        > There's a broader question about a user's will and the sites intent especially when it comes to business plans of the site The site's business plans are not my problem. Basically, my phone and my computer should do what I want. Why is there even an API to make a video player enter/exit full-screen mode ? That's 100% a user decision and there is no valid reason why that should ever be exposed to JS.
- Mithaldu 9y ago
  This is unclear. Do you work for Youtube or Android? E: This is a simple and earnest question. Why the downvotes?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
unkown-unknowns 9y ago
Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a Web development concept focusing on making sites look and behave optimally on all personal computing devices, from desktop to mobile. [1] The viewport meta tag is part of what makes RWD possible. [2] The viewport meta tag does not relate to PiP in any way that I can imagine. [1]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Responsive_web_design https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Responsive... [2]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Mobile/Viewport_meta_tag https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Mobile/View...
dinnouti 9y ago
Wondering if relate to YouTube Red sales.
- johnhenry 9y ago
  It's always bothered me that you have to pay for this extra service in order to get audio to stream in the background.
madeofpalk 9y ago
For what it's worth, you can disable PiP on your own site by responding to the JS event and changing the value of video.webkitPresentationMode. https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/General/WhatsNewInSafari/Articles/Safari_9_0.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014305-CH9-SW18 https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/Gen...

kinlan 9y ago

Shared below too. Just as a quick point and I will drop it in the article comments too. I'm the lead for our Chrome Developer Relations team. Chrome doesn't disable picture in picture for Youtube, Youtube disable it in Chrome. They listen to resize events iirc and then exit fullscreen mode (the only way to currently get to pip mode in Chrome).

lukepothier 9y ago
That's interesting, and a relief.
- kinlan 9y ago
  If you are interested, there is also a spec under development at the moment to make it more explicit - https://wicg.github.io/picture-in-picture/ https://wicg.github.io/picture-in-picture/
kuschku 9y ago
Then Chrome should have an option to stop the resize handler from firing when entering PiP mode. The user should always have the right to override what the website is doing.
- kinlan 9y ago
  So you would like us to not tell the page what the render is doing? I'm not sure how that would play out for any number of API's that exist on the web. Developer's have consistently had the means to override the default actions of the browser (think drag and drop) but I don't think hiding side-effects or user actions helps anyone.
  - avaer 9y ago
    I'd like to be able to tell my browser what it should tell the pages it's loading, especially if pages are leveraging it to do things against my will. That applies to blocking Google ads, as well as fixing Youtube malfeatures. Of course, it's understandable you won't see this from a browser paid for by Google. But you can't paint in broad brush strokes like "I don't think hiding side-effects or user actions helps anyone."
    - kinlan 9y ago
      I'm disputing the fact there was a casual offhand design, and I don't think hiding the state of the render or the browser helps anyone not least developers who need the information about the state of their page. I'm not saying that there can't be meaningful response from the browser to user hostile actions, I don't think anyone disagrees. There's a broader question about a user's will and the sites intent especially when it comes to business plans of the site that I'm not sure if access to features native in the browser is aligned with say ad blocking or tracking etc... I don't know.
      - Aaargh20318 9y ago
        > There's a broader question about a user's will and the sites intent especially when it comes to business plans of the site The site's business plans are not my problem. Basically, my phone and my computer should do what I want. Why is there even an API to make a video player enter/exit full-screen mode ? That's 100% a user decision and there is no valid reason why that should ever be exposed to JS.
Mithaldu 9y ago
This is unclear. Do you work for Youtube or Android? E: This is a simple and earnest question. Why the downvotes?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

unkown-unknowns 9y ago

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a Web development concept focusing on making sites look and behave optimally on all personal computing devices, from desktop to mobile. [1] The viewport meta tag is part of what makes RWD possible. [2] The viewport meta tag does not relate to PiP in any way that I can imagine. [1]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Responsive_web_design https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Responsive... [2]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Mobile/Viewport_meta_tag https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Mobile/View...

dinnouti 9y ago

Wondering if relate to YouTube Red sales.

johnhenry 9y ago
It's always bothered me that you have to pay for this extra service in order to get audio to stream in the background.

madeofpalk 9y ago

For what it's worth, you can disable PiP on your own site by responding to the JS event and changing the value of video.webkitPresentationMode. https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/General/WhatsNewInSafari/Articles/Safari_9_0.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014305-CH9-SW18 https://developer.apple.com/library/content/releasenotes/Gen...