Unlocking Background Audio on Your iPhone with YouTube

If you'd like to listen to content on YouTube in the background while using other apps, but have that audio still playing, there's good news for you. You don't necessarily need to pay for YouTube Premium as this feature is currently locked for premium members. However, we've got a simple workaround to help you achieve this goal.

The first step in getting around this limitation is to open up Safari on your iPhone and head over to youtube.com. From there, search for the video that you want to listen to in the background. You can choose any video you like, such as an episode of The Macer Show podcast. If you haven't already subscribed to the Mac RoR show channel, now is a great time to do so. New episodes drop every Friday and each one is packed with valuable insights and information.

Once you've found your chosen video, tap on it to begin playback. Next, in the bottom left corner of the Safari toolbar, tap on that little "a" icon (note the lowercase "a" - this is crucial for getting the audio to work correctly). From the popup menu that appears, select "Request desktop website." This will ensure that you're able to access the YouTube desktop version of your chosen video.

With the "desktop website" option selected, tap the play button or simply tap on the video itself to begin playback. Ignore any popups that encourage you to open up the YouTube mobile app - this is an important step in making the audio work correctly. You see, if you try to access a YouTube video through the mobile app while your iPhone is locked, it will require you to pay for YouTube Premium. This feature doesn't currently allow users with non-premium subscriptions to listen to videos in the background.

To get around this limitation, simply follow these steps: open up Safari and navigate to youtube.com, search for your chosen video, select "Request desktop website," and then tap the play button or video to begin playback. Ignore any popups that encourage you to switch to the mobile app. With these simple steps in place, you can continue listening to YouTube audio on your iPhone while using other apps.

One of the best things about this workaround is that it allows you to lock your iPhone and still listen to your chosen video for as long as it lasts. This means you're free to pocket your phone and put it on headphones if that's what you prefer. If, however, you want to use your phone with other apps while listening, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen to exit out of Safari. From there, you can use the media control in your iPhone's Dynamic Island (available on iPhone 14 and later models) or access the control center on your iPhone.

If you're using an iPhone 14 or 15, the control center is a great place to resume playback when it automatically stops. To do this, simply open up the control center and look for the media controls - they should be easy to spot. From there, tap on the paused video to start playing again. And that's it! With these simple steps, you can listen to YouTube audio in the background while using your iPhone with other apps.

If you found this article helpful and enjoyed learning how to unlock background audio on your iPhone with YouTube, be sure to like and subscribe to our channel for more content from us. We'll continue to bring you valuable tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your iPhone and other devices. Thanks so much for watching, and we look forward to seeing you around in our next video.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif you'd like to listen to content on YouTube in the background maybe you want to lock your device but have that audio still playing in the background you would typically need to pay for YouTube premium as this is a locked feature for premium members but we have a workaround that can help you achieve this goal and it's actually pretty easy to do the first thing you'll want to do is actually open up Safari and head on over to youtube.com then search for the video that you want to listen to in the background so perhaps this might be oh I don't know an episode of the Macer Show podcast so just go over to the Mac RoR show channel maybe consider subscribing if you haven't already done so new episodes drop every Friday and then you can tap on the episode that you want to listen to and then in the bottom left corner of the Safari toolbar tap on that little lowercase uppercase a icon and select request desktop website from the popup menu then you're going to go ahead and tap the play button or tap the video to begin playback while ignoring or dismissing any popups encouraging you to open up the YouTube mobile app this is important because well you can't use the YouTube mobile app in order for this to work it's just going to want you to pay for premium then just go ahead and lock your iPhone and the audio will pause but you can just tap the play button in the lock screen playback controls widget to resume listening after following these steps the audio from YouTube will continue to play on your locked iPhone for as long as that video lasts leaving you free to pocket your phone and listen on headphones alternatively if you want to use the phone with other apps while listening just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to exit out of Safari and then use the media control in your iPhone's Dynamic Island if you have a 14 or 15 or in the control center you can go ahead and resume playback when it automatically stops and that's it be sure to like this video If it helped you out and subscribe to the channel if you want to see more content from us in the future this is M with Mac rers thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next videoif you'd like to listen to content on YouTube in the background maybe you want to lock your device but have that audio still playing in the background you would typically need to pay for YouTube premium as this is a locked feature for premium members but we have a workaround that can help you achieve this goal and it's actually pretty easy to do the first thing you'll want to do is actually open up Safari and head on over to youtube.com then search for the video that you want to listen to in the background so perhaps this might be oh I don't know an episode of the Macer Show podcast so just go over to the Mac RoR show channel maybe consider subscribing if you haven't already done so new episodes drop every Friday and then you can tap on the episode that you want to listen to and then in the bottom left corner of the Safari toolbar tap on that little lowercase uppercase a icon and select request desktop website from the popup menu then you're going to go ahead and tap the play button or tap the video to begin playback while ignoring or dismissing any popups encouraging you to open up the YouTube mobile app this is important because well you can't use the YouTube mobile app in order for this to work it's just going to want you to pay for premium then just go ahead and lock your iPhone and the audio will pause but you can just tap the play button in the lock screen playback controls widget to resume listening after following these steps the audio from YouTube will continue to play on your locked iPhone for as long as that video lasts leaving you free to pocket your phone and listen on headphones alternatively if you want to use the phone with other apps while listening just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to exit out of Safari and then use the media control in your iPhone's Dynamic Island if you have a 14 or 15 or in the control center you can go ahead and resume playback when it automatically stops and that's it be sure to like this video If it helped you out and subscribe to the channel if you want to see more content from us in the future this is M with Mac rers thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next video\n"