- YouTube is clamping down on a popular background playback trick for mobile browsers
- Free YouTube users have reported that background listening has stopped working in browsers like Brave and Microsoft Edge.
- Google has issued a statement to confirm that it has “updated the experience to ensure consistency” across platforms.
YouTube is still on a mission to convert free users to the YouTube Premium plan, but that hasn’t stopped many from taking advantage of workarounds like ad blockers. Unfortunately, YouTube is now clamping down on a popular mobile browser background playback trick.
For some time, free YouTube users have been using a handy solution to play YouTube video audio in the background (a paid Premium feature) on third-party mobile browsers like Microsoft Edge, Brave, or Samsung Internet. Users would play a video and then minimize the browser to effectively get background playback, a feature of YouTube Premium.
Unfortunately, a growing number of user reports suggest that this has stopped working for many, and Google has now issued a statement suggesting that the crackdown is official.
You can no longer have YouTube running in the background. from r/youtube
Although some users have reported that this crackdown has not yet affected them, it is becoming more common for a number of free YouTube users. “We are now officially paying for everything that was free a couple of years ago,” says the Reddit user who started the online conversation.
Amid the uproar, Google has officially spoken out about its decision to restrict background viewing in mobile browsers, sharing the following statement with Android Authority:
“Background playback is a feature exclusive to YouTube Premium members. While some non-Premium users may have been able to access this via mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we’ve updated the experience to ensure consistency across all of our platforms.”
Another blow for free YouTube users
As mentioned, free YouTube users have been able to get around this paid feature of YouTube Premium for some time, but it’s definitely the end of days for this popular solution, and to say it has bothered people is an understatement.
This isn’t the first time Google has doubled down on making these tricks even harder for free users to access. Last year, YouTube also clamped down on ad blockers, forcing many to look for sneaky solutions.
It all comes down to one thing; Google is trying to convert more free users to the paid Premium plan. While we’re also fans of YouTube Premium, it’s certainly not without its flaws and not everyone can justify the $13.99 / £12.99 / AU$16.99 monthly cost.
It’s about striking a balance, and as one Reddit user highlighted, the company continues to pay for features that have been free for years, rather than offering particularly attractive new features on YouTube Premium.
As YouTube continues to pull tricks like this (it’s also experimenting with locking playback speeds on Premium), it will only cause more friction with free users who can’t justify purchasing YouTube Premium. Fortunately, background viewing for desktop web browsers is here to stay, but how long will it be before YouTube decides to block this too?
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
