More users are claiming that YouTube's free version is seeing the Picture-in-Picture feature appear on their access despite not paying for the Premium subscription where it was exclusive. In the United States, YouTube made it available for non-premium users in 2022, and this has been the way things go on the platform for this renowned small window player.
In the latest updates from users from other regions, it is appearing, but it remains unknown if this was only a bug that made it possible to access it freely.
YouTube Picture-in-Picture Expanding to Free Users?
Reports from users who are not subscribed to YouTube Premium claim that they have been experiencing the picture-in-picture feature whenever swiping to home on their iPhones or iPads. This was the latest update appearing online, especially as for a long time, YouTube's PiP was only made accessible for Premium users in regions outside the US to access via their devices.
Some users argue that this may be due to the fact that picture-in-picture is a "built-in" iOS feature, and it is tweaking something in YouTube's app to make it available without a Premium subscription.
Other users believe it is only a bug with this free access, and launching the PiP feature later was no longer available on their streams.
YouTube Clarifies PiP Free Access for US Only
Despite all the confusion lately as users outside the US get the YouTube PiP feature while on free access, Team YouTube addressed that this remains a Premium availability for other parts of the world.
It is only in the United States region where YouTube's PiP is free, and this only shows that the policy has not changed for global users despite the reports that it is available on non-premium accounts.
YouTube's Picture-in-Picture Feature
Three years ago, Google and YouTube allowed US users to multitask while getting the streaming platform's experience available on a mini-player with Picture-in-Picture's introduction to iOS. The team announced its availability to all US users via iOS 14 or later, allowing users to get the feature but initially for Premium subscribers only as part of its testing.
Fast forward to a year later, the PiP feature on iOS saw a drastic change from the YouTube platform as it was made available to users without a subscription, freely experiencing the feature on their iPhone or iPad. This was available on the main YouTube client, as well as the YouTube TV experience, which would no longer have the streaming stopped whenever doing other activities on the devices.
In the latest report, both Android and iOS versions of the YouTube app are seeing free access to picture-in-picture available for free, and it is no longer exclusive to the United States. However, these confirmed reports are isolated cases as not all are getting the feature, with YouTube clarifying that this official free rollout of the feature is still exclusive to US iOS users.
