YouTube is the biggest and most popular free online video sharing platform in the world where hundreds of thousands of creators upload videos on a daily basis. With content from all genre, YouTube is the most diverse video sharing platform available.
In recent times, due to the major slash in data prices in India, YouTube has attracted a lot of new users in India with a majority of them being smartphone users. YouTube’s monthly user base had 225 million users in India (in March 2018).
The YouTube app on Android is the only way of accessing the content on smartphones. But this app comes with its own limitations which at times becomes very irritating.
Many podcast channels and music channels are exclusively available on YouTube. And one of the limitations of the YouTube app is not being able to play anything in the background or when the screen is locked which is a letdown and forces the user to be stuck to the screen and not enjoy content in the background.
Update: If you reside in India or any of the 42 other countries where YouTube Premium is available, you can also subscribe to the service to play videos in the background and songs even when the screen is locked. Read everything you need to know about YouTube Premium here.
Also read:Â Top 7 YouTube alternatives every streamer must check out
How to play YouTube videos with a locked screen on Android?
YouTube Premium subscription is the only official way to play YouTube videos in the background effortlessly. But, this service is not available for all regions. You have to pay $9.99 for an Android device and $12.99 for an iOS device monthly to avail YouTube Premium subscription.
Fortunately, we have a workaround for you which will help you play YouTube videos in the background with a locked screen. You will also have the ability to play or pause the video. Follow the steps mentioned below.
- Open YouTube on Google Chrome or Firefox web browser on your smartphone. Search for the video you want to play and open it. Look out for the three vertical dots on the top right of your screen and tap on it to get to the dropdown menu of the browser.
- Click on that and choose ‘Desktop site’.
- Now play the video. You can listen to the audio with your video streaming off. Once you pull down your notification bar, you will see an option to play/pause the video.
- Now go to your home screen or lock screen and play the video with the option in the notification shade.
Third-party applications often don’t seem legit and can be malware or virus which may infect your device and hence cannot be trusted.
Other methods to enable this feature are available but require the tedious process of rooting, installing unofficial apps, and installing Xposed modules for your Android device, which is not everyone’s cup of tea.
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