In 2018, Google launched the “YouTube Premium” service, and since then, the background playback feature has been considered one of the most important features enjoyed by subscribers to this paid service, as it allows them to continue listening to video content even after minimizing the browser window or closing the phone screen.
But recently, news has spread that “Google” has blocked this feature from users who do not subscribe to “Premium” when they use third-party phone browsers, after it was previously possible to access it through some of these browsers. This measure was viewed by some as an intentional restriction of free use.
According to a report published by the “Android Authority” website, citing a Google spokesperson, a recent update to the YouTube service led to the disabling of the background play feature for users who are not subscribed to “YouTube Premium.”
The company spokesperson said: “Background play is a feature designed to be exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers, and although some non-subscribed users were previously able to access it via web browsers on phones in certain scenarios, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms.”
With the new update, audio playback automatically stops when a user who does not have a “Premium” subscription closes the phone screen or switches to using another application. Users on the Reddit and X platforms indicated that this change affects a number of well-known browsers, such as Samsung Internet, Brave, and Vivaldi.
When you try to use the previous methods to play video in the background, temporary notifications labeled “MediaOngoingActivity” appear, before the media controls disappear completely.
Users have confirmed that the usual solutions they were previously using, such as clearing browser cache or changing Picture-in-Picture settings, are no longer effective after this latest update.
Many believe that this step represents a clear attempt by Google to encourage free users to subscribe to the paid YouTube Premium service. (seventh day)
