Google simply made YouTube worse on cellular, but it surely was certain to occur

For those who’ve been secretly utilizing your non-Chrome internet browser to hearken to YouTube movies together with your Android display off, then I’ve some dangerous information for you: Google has reportedly caulked this cellular loophole with a hearty dose of sealant.

As per a report by PiunikaWeb (via 9to5Google), the flexibility to tug up the YouTube web site inside a third-party Android browser like Edge, Firefox, and Samsung Internet to proceed playback with the display off is now not working. I examined this out by myself Pixel 10 operating the Edge browser, and, certainly, the YouTube audio feed cuts out a second or two after I click on the handset’s sleep/wake key.

This conduct is not solely new — Google Chrome for Android hasn’t allowed for screen-off background play for a while now, and the identical goes for all of the mainstream browsers accessible for iPhone. Because it stands now, a paid YouTube Premium subscription is required to unlock this functionality on cellular with out operating into vital friction.

This was certain to occur

Google would somewhat have you ever join YouTube Premium

For the longest time now, Google has been pushing to make its paid YouTube Premium subscription the one and solely technique to legitimately use the service with out ads and with entry to background playback on cellular. We have seen the corporate play an aggressive game of whack-a-mole with ad-blocking browser extensions on desktop, and the native YouTube app throughout iOS, iPadOS, and Android has by no means supported free screen-off playback to start with.

With this in thoughts, it is no shock to see Google plug what has turn into an ‘if you recognize, you recognize’ screen-off playback loophole throughout the Android world. After all, even with out this workaround, different strategies are nonetheless accessible for listening to movies with a display off whereas forgoing YouTube Premium. There’s all the time YouTube ReVanced, NewPipe, and different non-Google-sanctioned software program options, although these software program choices aren’t accessible over on the Apple aspect of the aisle.

Whereas I can perceive Google’s want to lock fascinating options behind a recurring paywall, the dearth of any form of background play help inside YouTube’s free mobile app — together with with the display on whereas utilizing one other app — stays a specific ache level for me. I’ve all the time been in a position to reduce a YouTube window or tab on my PC, and never having the ability to take action on Android or iPadOS with out whipping out a bank card is irritating. In the meanwhile, at the least I can proceed to emulate components of the YouTube Premium expertise on PC via some clever free web browser extensions.