YouTube restricts picture-in-picture on iPhones in Europe to paying users

In countries outside the US, Google limits picture-in-picture in the YouTube app for iPhones and iPads to paying subscribers. The company has announced that. The feature has been working on Android for some time and is now also coming to iOS and iPadOS.

YouTube pip on Android

When a video is playing, YouTube Premium subscribers can swipe up to go to the home screen and the video will continue playing in a small window somewhere on the screen, says Google. So can subscribers with music videos and other videos. Paying users can also keep the feature disabled. Then videos can continue to play in the background, without small window on the screen.

The feature also works in the US for non-paying users, but is reserved for non-music videos, the company says. It is unknown why Google is limiting this feature to the United States. The company also does this on Android. Google has been testing the feature since August last year. The YouTube TV service has been picture-in-picture since this spring. The feature requires iOS 15 or later, the company says.