Yahoo Finance Here's how you can actually use your phone when you listen to YouTube on mobile
YouTube is meant for video, but as most everyone has figured out by now, it's also great for music. You can find just about every deep cut imaginable on the platform — but listening to the tunes on the mobile app isn't always the most enjoyable experience.
The YouTube app has one particularly egregious flaw for listeners: Playback is only available when the app is front and center on a user's screen, and it stops when you shift your attentions elsewhere and open another.
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I'm one of those weirdos who refuses to embrace streaming, so I turn to YouTube for one-off mobile jams. The playback problem is really grating — nothing's worse than losing all other functions of my phone for the full 5:20 of Danny Brown's Really Doe when I'm at the gym.
Thankfully, there are simple workarounds The Verge worked out for both Android and iOS, so you'll actually be able to use your phone while you're listening to your favorite songs.
Android
Playing YouTube jams in the background of your phone is much simpler for Android systems than iOS, which is fitting since they're both Google products.
Open up your Chrome browser, and navigate to YouTube.com.
Hit the three-dot menu button on the top right corner of the screen. Head to the "Request desktop site" option near the bottom of the list, and tap the field to turn it on. Check out how it should look below:
Image: screenshot/mashable
Then, you can pick out the song you want to play. Accept any popups asking for permission for YouTube to display notifications.
Once your song is playing, you can leave the Chrome app in the background and move onto other tasks. The playback will stop at first — but you control the track via the phone's notifications menu.
Image: screenshot/mashable
iOS
iPhone users have an extra hurdle to jump through to get YouTube in the background of their phones. You'll have to download a new mobile browser, Dolphin, unless you happen to use it already.
Once you have the browser, go to YouTube.com. Select the song you want to listen to, press play, and leave the page. You'll be able to control playback via the iOS Control Center.
Image: screenshot/mashable
You can even put your phone aside and the song will keep playing. You can control it on the lockscreen.
Image: screenshot/mashable
Now that you can play YouTube tunes whenever you want, you'll never worry about keeping your phone screen focused on the video. Queue up your favorite song to celebrate.
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