iPhone: Play YouTube videos in the background

On iPad and iPhone, you can also play YouTube videos in the background from iOS 7 and use Safari and Facebook as well. This is even possible in the Safari browser, you don't need a new app. You can read the details in this article.

iPhone: How to play YouTube videos in the background

1. View the YouTube video in Safari.
2. Then tap the "Share" button on the page and select the "Request Desktop Site" option.
3. Then wait a moment for the new page to load and the video to begin. Now interrupt the playback.
4. With a swipe from the bottom to the top you have to open the quick settings.
5. Here you can use the "Play" button, just like when playing your own music, to restart the interrupted YouTube video. This little trick works with all the videos you view in Safari. You can also keep iOS apps running videos in the Quicktime Player running in the background.

Play YouTube videos in the background with YouTube Music

With its own streaming service, YouTube Music, YouTube now offers the option of playing videos in the background more easily and on all devices. Strictly speaking, this is just music and not videos:

1. You absolutely need the YouTube Music App (Android) or for iPhone and iPad. This is not possible in the normal YouTube app.
2. Then call up a song and start playback.
3. If you now close the app and open another app, the music will continue to run in the background.

Alternatively: Play YouTube videos via Opera Mini and Dolphin

There is a second way to play YouTube videos on iPhones and Android smartphones in the background:

1. You can play videos in the background with the Opera Mini browser for iPhones or the equivalent for Android smartphones and also with the Dolphin browser for Android and the Dolphin for iOS.
2. If you start a YouTube video in one of the two browsers and press the Home button, the video also stops.
3. However, if you now swipe up the control center, you can tap on "Play" and the video will continue to play.
4. If Apple and Google ban this option at some point, you only have the paid service YouTube Red. It allows the YouTube app to play the videos in the background.

You can also download YouTube videos as MP3 on iOS. You can find out how to do this in this article.