Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
When it comes to music, the majority of song lovers now prefer listening to it on their iPhone or Android phones, and most of them are still searching for a method to play YouTube in the background so they can enjoy their favorite tracks without much battery consumption.
Another reason why people may want to listen to YouTube in the background could be that they want to use their phone for other purposes such as for text messaging, Internet browsing, accessing Facebook, etc. on the device simultaneously.
With that said, here you will learn how to play YouTube in the background on iPhone or Android both with and without any specific app.
YouTube Premium, formerly YouTube Red, is a paid subscription with three types of plans namely ‘Individual’, ‘Family’, and ‘Student’ offered by the streaming giant for $11.99, $17.99, and $6.99 per month respectively. All the plans give you ad-free and uninterrupted streaming experience.
Note: The price of the plans may vary depending on the region of your residence and Google policies. Nevertheless, no annual subscription is available at the time of this writing, and the amount is deducted from your account on monthly basis.
While each plan has its own merits and demerits, the most used one is Individual that also gives free access to YouTube Music, an app that is available for Android and iOS devices, and is specifically dedicated to the music where you can watch and listen to your favorite tracks published on the platform.
What makes YouTube Music popular among the premium subscribers is its ability to play the music even when the app is not active and/or when the phone screen is turned off. Furthermore, you can even configure the app to play the audio without video, thus significantly reducing the battery consumption.
Note: Unlike the YouTube main app itself, YouTube Music is limited only to the music, and cannot play other videos.
Once you have subscribed for the YouTube Premium Individual plan, and downloaded and installed the YouTube Music app, you can follow the instructions given below to play YouTube in background Android or iPhone smartphone.
Launch YouTube Music, search for your favorite music using the Search icon at the top-right corner, tap the song in the suggestions list, and then tap the name of the track to start playing.
Tap anywhere on the video player window, and tap Audio from the top of the screen to switch to the audio only mode where the video of the song won’t be played.
Forex Robotron Gold Package
Use your phone-specific button or option to minimize YouTube Music. You can then either continue using your smartphone normally, or turn off the screen to play YouTube in background.
Software Update Pro - Check and update software installed on your computer.
If you don’t want to pay for YouTube Premium, there are a few other workarounds that you can try to play YouTube in background on your iPhone. One of the easiest methods among them is explained below:
Launch Safari on your iPhone, and go to www.youtube.com (important). Make sure to type the URL in the address bar so the YouTube app doesn’t start, and you can access YouTube from within the browser window itself.
Use the regular method to search for the video you want to play in the background, and tap the Play button to start streaming.
ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus + Firewall NextGen
Tap the All Tabs icon from the bottom-right corner of the browser, and tap + from the bottom-center. Notice how the YouTube video continues to play even when you are on the new tab.
Press the Home button or swipe up on iPhone X or above to get to the Home screen. You can notice how YouTube still continues to stream. From this point onward, you can either start using your iPhone normally, or turn off the screen and let your device play YouTube in background.
The process to play YouTube in background on an Android smartphone is slightly different than what it is on an iPhone if you don’t have a Premium subscription. To get this done on your Android, you must:
Home Use license is dedicated for personal, non-commercial use only. If Action! is used for commercial gain or to further any commercial purpose, a Commercial Use license is required. Multi-license (volume discount) is intended for single
company, user or members of the same household. Action! - screen and game recorder</a>
Launch Google Chrome (default) on your Android phone, and go to www.youtube.com. Click the More options icon (with three vertically aligned dots) from the top-right corner of the browser, and check the Desktop site box from the menu that appears.
Jutoh is an ebook creator for Epub, Kindle and more. It’s fast, runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, comes with a cover design editor, and allows book variations to be created with alternate text, style sheets and cover designs.
Use the Search bar at the top of the interface to search for and tap the video you want to stream.
Once the video starts streaming, get back to the Home screen, pull down the Notification bar from the top (if the streaming stops), and press the Play button to play YouTube in background on your Android smartphone.
Instead of using the above workaround on Android, if you want something simpler and more straightforward, there are a few apps that can help you play YouTube videos in background. Some of the most used programs are listed below:
Being one of the most versatile media playing software, VLC needs no introduction, and icing on the cake was added when the program was made available on Google Play Store. After you have installed VLC on your Android phone, you can launch the YouTube app, search for and tap the video you want to play in the background, tap the streaming video, tap the ‘More options’ icon from the top-right corner, and tap ‘Play in VLC’ from the available options.
This app does exactly what its name suggests. The program has a ‘Minimize player’ mode that allows you to stream YouTube videos in a small window that reduces its size and resides at the bottom of the screen, thus letting you use your Android phone for other important tasks simultaneously.
WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro
Yet another app available on Google Play Store that lets you search for your favorite videos on YouTube, stream them, and then minimize the player to a floating window that goes down to the bottom of the screen. This lets you play YouTube in background in order to allow you to use your phone for other tasks.
Conclusion
Watching YouTube videos has become a part of people’s day-to-day life now. While many of them use the platform to learn new skills through the tutorials that are available for free, others love the idea of having unlimited and unrestricted access to the gigantic database of music videos that they can dig in to find and play their favorite tracks. For the latter scenario, the processes explained above are likely to come in handy in order to play YouTube in background so the users can take full advantage of their iPhone or Android smartphone in case they only want to listen to the audio, and are not interested in watching the video while streaming.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
LYRX is an easy-to-use karaoke software with the professional features karaoke hosts need to perform with precision. LYRX is karaoke show hosting software that supports all standard karaoke file types as well as HD video formats, and it’s truly fun to use.LYRX Karaoke Software MAC/WINDOWS (Includes Activation For 3 Machines)
Epubor Audible Converter for Mac: Download and convert Audible AAXC/AA/AAX to MP3 with 100% original quality preserved.
Easy GIF Animator is a powerful animated GIF editor and the top tool for creating animated pictures, banners, buttons and GIF videos. You get extensive animation editing features, animation effects, unmatched image quality and optimization for the web. No other GIF animation software matches our features and ease of use, that’s why Easy GIF Animator is so popular.
Epubor Ultimate for Mac:Helps you read books anywhere, including the best eBook Converter + eBook DRM Removal functions.
WPS Office Premium ( File Recovery, Photo Scanning, Convert PDF)–Yearly
Lyric Video Creator Professional Version
Ever see a video from YouTube and want to convert to an MP3 of that song for your computer, smartphone or tablet? Want to convert YouTube videos into audios and download them as ringtones, or share them with friends? A YouTube MP3 converter for Mac lets you do those things quickly and easily, without any special computer knowledge.
The major choice you face is whether to use an online YouTube MP3 converter for Mac with high quality, or use a program to convert YouTube videos into MP3s. We’ll take a look at both options and recommend some websites and programs for you to use.
Just like the online applications, there are many programs to choose from that allow you to convert YouTube videos to MP3s for Mac. We’ll take a closer look at one free option that is great if your needs are limited, and one pay program with complete and superior performance. These are the best recommended YouTube to MP3 converters for Apple Mac OS X:
MediaHuman’s Free YouTube to MP3 Converter offers fast conversions with superior fidelity, for exceptionally clear MP3 files. It works well not only with YouTube, but also Vimeo, Soundcloud, Dailymotion and VEVO.
Wondershare Filmora for Mac is an outstanding YouTube MP3 converter for Mac, with a suite of superior features. This program not only allows you to convert videos to MP3 files, it also allows you to edit and add effects, save to a native music library, and more. If you have more sophisticated needs for saving, converting and editing YouTube videos and MP3s, Wondershare Filmora is a great choice. The very affordable price tag is another attraction.
Check a video below to get an overview of this program:
If you are using a windows, check this tutorial instead
Epubor Audible Converter for Win: Download and convert Audible AAXC/AA/AAX to MP3 with 100% original quality preserved.
CollageIt Pro
CNET reviewed Wondershare Filmora for Mac (Originally Wondershare Video Editor for Mac) and also praised the program extensively: “Wondershare Video Editor provides all the freedom you need to arrange clips and music with a wealth of available filters and transitions. This is a beautiful and capable piece of software.”
Take a close look at your needs and preferences for performance to make the perfect decision about which is the best YouTube MP3 converter for Mac for you.
There are several online applications that allow you to convert YouTube videos to MP3s. Two of the best are:
YouTube MP3 is designed with simplicity in mind: you simply paste the YouTube URL into the field and click the “Convert Video” button and the YouTube MP3 website takes care of the rest. When the conversion is complete, you can download your MP3 file from their servers.
YouTube in MP3 is very similar to the above application, although it offers several appealing extra features. Paste in your URL and click, and the program does the work quickly – your download will be ready in seconds. This service works on computers, smartphones and tablets, in a variety of formats.
You may also like: How to Convert MKV to MP4 without Losing Quality [Free Converters Provided] >>
TubeDigger - online video downloader from mostly any site
KoolReport Pro is an advanced solution for creating data reports and dashboards in PHP. Equipped with all extended packages , KoolReport Pro is able to connect to various datasources, perform advanced data analysis, construct stunning charts and graphs and export your beautiful work to PDF, Excel, JPG or other formats. Plus, it includes powerful built-in reports such as pivot report and drill-down report which will save your time in building ones.
It will help you to write dynamic data reports easily, to construct intuitive dashboards or to build a whole business intelligence cockpit.
KoolReport Pro package goes with Full Source Code, Royal Free, ONE (1) Year Priority Support, ONE (1) Year Free Upgrade and 30-Days Money Back Guarantee.
Developer License allows Single Developer to create Unlimited Reports, deploy on Unlimited Servers and able deliver the work to Unlimited Clients.
Take advantage of PREMIUM features for 12 months.Create your texts / logos without any limitation.No attribution required when downloading.No advertising on the website. TextStudio.com PREMIUM - Yearly Membership
SwifDoo PDF Perpetual (2-PC) Free upgrade. No monthly fees ever.
/a>