DrMaestro's Blog

I noticed on a recent trip to the US that anytime I used YouTube for non-music content, the app went into Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode automatically when I tried to do other things on my iPhone. This was quite a pleasant experience for me because back home I needed a YouTube premium subscription to achieve this. As an avid YouTube video user, PIP on YouTube was a desirable feature because it allowed me to do other things on my device without having to lose the music or video playing in the background. YouTube’s settings allow for US users accessing non-music content to have this feature automatically regardless of subscription status.

Well, if you do not have a YouTube Premium Subscription, a little hack should be able to get you to have PIP features on your YouTube app (albeit with some minor inconvenience).

You would need the following:

1. An iPhone (of course)
2. A wireless network (that allows for VPN connection)
3. A good VPN service provider

Steps

1. Make sure the YouTube app is closed
2. Connect to your internet wireless router/device
3. Connect to your VPN and set the location to the USA
4. Turn off your phone’s GSM connection by switching to airplane mode while keeping WiFi turned on – This is a very important step. While this is an inconvenience, YouTube is still able to geolocate you (in my experience) if your GSM connection is still on and PIP will not work. Please note that you can still make calls via FaceTime and WhatsApp where necessary
5. Open the YouTube app on your device and check to see if you able to use the app in PIP mode for non-music content. See the image from my phone below.

I have not tried this with a free VPN service provider and I generally think it should work. I use Bitdefender’s VPN application which is a paid application and in my estimation is quite good. It comes bundled with my Internet Security suite (www.bitdefender.com). It does work well for most things I need it for. However, please be mindful of any legal issues with using a VPN in your location and be aware that there are always security risks with using third-party applications, especially applications through which you have to pass data through.

On a final note, well… you could also just pay for the YouTube premium subscription and avoid all the hassle but, you know how some people can be about these things.

Peace!!!

**YouTube’s TOS may actually consider this hack a violation. Please use with care. Also, before trying this hack, please check if PIP is already available for your location. Consider exploring other platforms that offer free PIP functionality.