YouTube tests Picture-In-Picture mode for iOS, says report

Washington: The Apple iPad users have had the Picture-in-Picture feature around iOS 9 which launched in 2015. However, iPhone users have only begun seeing PiP in action since the launch of the iOS 14 betas a few months back. And as per a new report, YouTube is testing the feature for iOS devices.

According to Mashable, as per a report by 9To5Mac, some Twitter users are now beginning to see YouTube rolling out picture-in-picture to some iOS users via the YouTube app.

Some suggest that the feature only works with a small number of videos. 

The 9to5Mac report, however, concedes that publication was able to independently confirm that the feature is being tested with a small number of iOS users employing the latest version of the YouTube app for iOS.

Once the user has the feature enabled, one can start playing a video and then closing the app to keep watching it in a smaller window. 

With picture-in-picture, the window will float above the iOS home screen and above any app being used, similar to the way it works on Android devices.

As per Mashable, while YouTube can be installed for free from the App Store, video playback in the background is limited to YouTube Premium subscribers. 

The latter is available in India for Rs 129 per month, while a family subscription that allows up to 5 users costs Rs 189 for every month.

Apple recently dropped the iOS 14 public beta 6 as it gets closer to the release of the final version of iOS 14. Besides picture-in-picture support, iOS 14 includes Android-style widgets, the App Library, and more.