All articles tagged with #background playback
YouTube is expanding its Premium Lite plan by adding background playback and offline downloads, letting most non-music videos be watched ad-free offline and in the background. Lite costs $7.99/month in the US (Premium is $13.99) and previously didn’t include these features; Shorts still have ads and some videos aren’t fully ad-free on Lite. The rollout starts today and may take a few weeks to reach all users.
YouTube Premium Lite is gaining background playback and offline downloads, letting you play videos while using other apps and save content for offline viewing. The perks are rolling out at no extra charge with Lite, but ad-free viewing still requires the full YouTube Premium plan ($13.99/month); most videos are ad-free on Lite, though some content (music, Shorts, and browse/search results) may still show ads.
YouTube has begun blocking background playback in mobile web browsers for non-Premium users, ending a loophole that had allowed Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, and some Firefox users to play audio or video in the background without a subscription; Google says background playback is exclusive to Premium across platforms, and browser updates aim to close inconsistencies, though some users had previously bypassed the block via user-agent changes.
Xiaomi is removing the feature that allowed users to play YouTube videos in the background without a premium subscription on devices running HyperOS, MIUI 14, MIUI 13, and MIUI 12, affecting models like Xiaomi 14, 13, 13 Pro, and 12T. The decision is attributed to "compliance requirements," hinting at possible involvement by Google. This change means users will need to subscribe to YouTube Premium to enjoy background playback.
Xiaomi has removed the feature that allowed MIUI devices to play YouTube audio with the screen off, citing compliance requirements, likely due to Google's crackdown on services offering YouTube Premium features for free. This affects popular flagship smartphones, and the move is seen as a response to protect Google's paid YouTube Premium service.