YouTube just slammed the door on one of mobile users' favorite workarounds. The platform has started blocking background playback on third-party browsers like Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge, forcing users who want to listen to videos with their screens off to pony up for a Premium subscription. For years, savvy users avoided the $13.99 monthly fee by simply opening YouTube in their mobile browser instead of the official app, but that free ride ends now.
YouTube has started cracking down on a workaround that let millions of users enjoy background playback without paying for Premium. The video giant confirmed it's now blocking the feature on mobile web browsers, ending a loophole that's existed for years.
"Background playback is a feature intended to be exclusive for YouTube Premium members," a Google spokesperson told Android Authority. "While some non-Premium users may have previously been able to access this through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms."
The block started hitting users last week, with complaints flooding in from people using Samsung Internet, Brave, Vivaldi, and Microsoft Edge. The workaround was simple but effective - instead of using YouTube's official iOS or Android app, users would just open the site in their mobile browser, where they could minimize the app or lock their screens while audio kept playing.
For anyone who wanted to listen to music, podcasts, or long-form content without keeping their screen on, it was the perfect hack. No $13.99 monthly Premium subscription needed, just a different app. But Google has apparently decided that loophole has lasted long enough.
The enforcement appears to be server-side, meaning there's no app update users can avoid or roll back. is simply detecting when audio is playing in a mobile browser and cutting it off when users navigate away or lock their screens. Samsung Internet users were among the first to notice, about the sudden change in behavior.
