Why Xiaomi Disabled This Feature That Allowed YouTube Playback in the Background

Xiaomi has announced that it is removing a popular feature that allowed users to play YouTube videos in the background. YouTube Premium users, who pay for ad-free streaming, could play YouTube videos over other apps in a picture-in-picture (PiP) mode or just the audio in the background without the video. However, this Xiaomi feature allowed users to get the same functionality for free. The move comes as YouTube has stepped up its crackdown on several third-party apps and features that are believed to be affecting its paying user base.

The company announced this via a Telegram channel after that it is the Play video sound with screen off function in the Video Toolbox and the Turn off screen feature in the Game Toolbox via over-the-air updates. While Xiaomi doesn’t specify what forced it to remove these popular features, the post states that the move is “due to compliance requirements.”

Notably, the move comes months after YouTube tried to get more people to subscribe to YouTube Premium. It attempted to curb the use of ad blockers by slowing down the playback speed of videos for users with ad blockers and making it significantly harder to skip ads.

Xiaomi has confirmed that the decision will affect all smartphones running on MIUI 12, MIUI 13, MIUI 14 and the recently released HyperOS, including Xiaomi 14, Xiaomi 13, Xiaomi 13 Pro and Xiaomi 12T. Xiaomi introduced the feature to support video playback without the screen being active with the MIUI 12 update in 2021.

A recent report claimed that YouTube may be rolling out PiP mode to non-Premium users outside the US. However, the company has not confirmed any such moves. Paid YouTube Premium subscribers using the Xiaomi models affected by the removal of the native feature should still be able to enjoy YouTube videos in PiP or background player mode.