- YouTube cracks down on popular background playback hack for mobile browsers
- Free YouTube users have reported that background listening no longer works for browsers such as Brave and Microsoft Edge.
- Google released a statement confirming that it has “updated the experience to ensure consistency” across all 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 cracking down on a popular mobile browser background playback hack.
For some time, free YouTube users have used a convenient workaround to play YouTube video audio in the background (a paid Premium feature) on third-party mobile browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, or Samsung Internet. Users would play a video then minimize the browser to effectively get background playback, a YouTube Premium feature.
Unfortunately, a growing number of user reports suggest it no longer works for many – and Google has now released a statement suggesting the crackdown is official.
You can no longer run YouTube in the background. from r/youtube
Although some users have reported that this crackdown has not yet affected them, it is an increasingly common occurrence for a number of free YouTube users. “We now officially pay for everything that was free a few years ago,” says the Reddit user who sparked the online conversation.
Amid the uproar, Google officially announced its decision to restrict background viewing on mobile browsers, sharing the following statement with Android Authority:
“Background playback is a feature intended to be exclusive to YouTube Premium members. Although some non-Premium users could previously access it through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms.”
Another blow for free YouTube users
As mentioned, free YouTube users have been able to escape this paid feature of YouTube Premium for some time, but it’s definitely the end of days for this popular workaround – and to say it’s rubbed people the wrong way is an understatement.
This isn’t the first time Google has stepped up efforts to make these tricks even harder for free users to access. Over the past year, YouTube has also cracked down on ad blockers, forcing many people to seek sneaky workarounds.
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 finding a balance, and as one Reddit user pointed out, the company has continued to pay for free features for years, instead of offering particularly cool new features on YouTube Premium.
As YouTube continues to pull stunts like this – it’s also experimenting with playback speed locking in Premium – it will only cause more friction with free users who can’t justify opting out for YouTube Premium. Luckily, background viewing for desktop web browsers is here to stay, but how long will it be before YouTube decides to pay for that too?
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