YouTube Blocks Background Playback Loophole on Third-Party Mobile Browsers
Feature intended for Premium subscribers only, Google confirms
Nonepaper Staff••1 min read
YouTube has started blocking third-party mobile browsers from using a background playback loophole, with Google confirming the feature is intended to be exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers.
Background playback allows audio to continue when the app is minimized or the screen is off. While officially a Premium feature, many users have accessed it through browsers like Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge.
Google confirmed in a statement that while some non-Premium users may have previously been able to access this through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, they have now fixed the loophole.
Analysis
Why This Matters
YouTube continues to close workarounds that allow free access to Premium features, pushing users toward paid subscriptions.
What to Watch
Whether this drives more Premium subscriptions or pushes users toward alternative platforms and apps.