Levin Roy · January 30, 2025 · 8 min read 
You found this great podcast on YouTube to put in the background while you wash your dishes, but you run into a hurdle – YouTube doesn’t let you play a video with the screen off. Let’s look at some ways to bypass this restriction.
Of course, you can let the video play on a phone or TV while you look elsewhere and listen to the audio. But we will focus on methods that allow you to turn off the display or switch to another task while the video plays in the background.
Using YouTube Premium
A YouTube Premium subscription is the most convenient (and official) way to play YouTube videos with the screen off. Background play is one of the key features offered in YouTube Premium, which allows you to minimize and play videos on any platform, mobile or PC.
You must pay an annual fee for the YouTube premium subscription. Still, the benefits of YouTube Premium go beyond background play, so it can be a good deal if you consume a lot of YouTube content.
Premium removes all ads, which is always better for listening to music or podcasts in the background. Otherwise, you would be assailed by constant ads that you couldn’t skip past.
In addition to background play, YouTube Premium allows you to download videos or play them in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. On mobile, you can also queue up videos, which is excellent for listening to a few hours of podcasts during work or your commute.
Remember that YouTube Premium also gives you ad-free access to YouTube Music, so you can replace your Spotify subscription with this and not lose out on anything.
- To get YouTube Premium, head to the
- You will see a blue button labeled Get YouTube Premium. Clicking on this button will let you select the plan duration and proceed with the payment.
- Scrolling down a bit further brings you to a plan comparison. By default, YouTube offers individual plans, but it is also possible to get a family plan for a student plan (if you can meet the requirements).
- The prices are based on your region, with some countries having higher subscriptions than others. Thus, many use a VPN to access prices from a different country (say India) and to get cheaper subscriptions.
- And that’s it. Once you pay for your subscription, it activates immediately, removing advertisements and providing other benefits on all its platforms. You can easily use the same Premium account on your mobile, TV, and PC without an issue.
Using the Mobile App With a Workaround
If you don’t want to get YouTube Premium, several workarounds are available. One method involves using the mobile app and tricking YouTube into leaving the video running without the screen.
- To try this out, head to the YouTube app on your mobile and play a video.
- While the video is still playing, hit the home button to swap out of the screen without pausing the video.
- The video will pause when you run another app or if the screen locks. Simply tap the play button from the notifications.
- Now, it should continue playing even without opening the YouTube app on the screen again.
Sometimes, this does not work, so you must adjust your battery settings to ensure background apps are not paused. The Troubleshooting section provides more information on this.
Using Browser Methods on Mobile
If the previous trick didn’t work even with the proper settings, there are other ways to get around background play restrictions. One such method is to open YouTube in the Chrome web browser and switch to the desktop site. This method is usually more reliable for keeping YouTube running in the background than the app.
- To run YouTube in the background using the web browser on your phone, first open the Chrome browser. We say Chrome specifically because this method needs its Desktop site feature.
- Find a video to play on YouTube. Make sure to access the mobile site (using https://m.youtube.com as your starting point); otherwise, it will just switch to the mobile app.
- Once you have the video playing, just use Chrome’s three-dot menu (don’t confuse it with YouTube’s triple-dot menu, as both are near one another) and select the Desktop site option.
- This will visibly change the interface of how YouTube renders on the PC.
- Play the video once the page reloads, and navigate away from the browser using the Home button. The video might pause immediately or continue playing until the phone goes to sleep.
- Now, here’s the neat part. Resume the video from the notifications, and it should continue playing even when you switch to other apps or turn off the display. The Desktop site mode doesn’t play well with YouTube’s natural propensity to pause the playback, unlike the native app designed specifically for the platform.
- This can also cause the progress bar to misbehave — it might appear complete even as the video runs in the background.
Third-Party Apps and Alternatives
The proliferation of ads and privacy violations by YouTube has prompted the community to develop several alternative apps and platforms to watch YouTube. These are usually more flexible, letting you watch videos with your display turned off without issues.
YouTube Vanced was the most popular of these alternatives, getting downloaded by millions before Google put down its foot and development was halted. It doesn’t work anymore.
The best current YouTube alternative is NewPipe. It’s free and open source, so it’s less likely to be shut down. It’s also a very robust app with a bug-free experience. It offers most features you would expect from YouTube Premium, including background play and complete adblock.
- Begin by downloading and installing NewPipe on your Android phone (yes, it’s only available for Android). As it is unavailable on the Google Play store, you can download its APK directly from the official website or through F-Droid, which collects many such Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for Android.
- Run this APK file from your downloads to install the app on your phone.
- Opening the map gives you a similar interface to YouTube. You can search for any YouTube channel or video from the search bar on the right.
- Try playing a video, and you will see that it runs without ads.
- Background play is also straightforward. Simply tap the headphone icon, and the video will play in the background. You can now freely navigate away from the app while continuing to listen to the video.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Apart from using YouTube Premium, all of the other methods are workarounds and don’t have a guarantee of working. Some methods might work for a while before crashing unexpectedly – and as these are unofficial methods, you cannot even report these as bugs.
The most common problem is the playback pausing or the audio cutting out when the phone enters sleep mode after a period of inactivity. Here are some ways to fix this:
Adjust Battery Saving Settings
All phones have a screen lock feature that turns off the display after a period of inactivity to conserve battery. The way to fix this is to modify your Battery settings.
The exact option that controls background app activity is hard to point out as it differs between Android versions and even different manufacturers. You will need to hunt around a bit and disable the option that is responsible for restricting background app usage.
Turn off Notifications
Notifications can also throw off the background play, interrupting playback repeatedly. It is a good idea to turn off unnecessary notifications, at least while you are trying to listen to a podcast while not actively using the phone.
You can also selectively turn off notifications for certain apps, allowing only the essential notifications while others are restricted.
Check App Permissions
Each app in Android has its own dedicated option to pause app activity when not used. Make sure to check the permissions for YouTube (and Chrome if you are using the browser method) and disable this to help the video run without an active screen.
Use a Third-Party App
We know this was already covered as a method, but it bears repeating. If you cannot get any workarounds running smoothly on your device, your best option would be to use a third-party app like NewPipe instead.
As this is a separate app from YouTube, it’s not a trick that can stop working, and it has background play built-in as a feature.
Conclusion
The easiest way to “watch” a YouTube video with the screen off is to get YouTube Premium. This gives you access to background play, besides shutting down the advertisements you otherwise wouldn’t be able to skip past without a screen.
Of course, free workarounds exist and can often give you the same experience with a bit of effort. Most of these tricks involve the mobile app, sometimes through the official YouTube app, and sometimes through the web browser or an alternative technique.
Using a browser or the official app, the idea is the same – open a video and trick the player into keeping it running. Using a third-party application is less finicky, as they simply bypass YouTube’s UI restrictions and simply serve its content through the API.
