Xiaomi has announced the removal of a popular feature that allowed users to play YouTube videos in the background.
YouTube Premium users, who subscribe for ad-free streaming, have the option to play YouTube videos in a picture-in-picture (PiP) mode over other apps or play just the audio in the background without the video.
This Xiaomi feature allowed users to access the same functionality for free. This change coincides with YouTube’s efforts to address third-party apps and features that might impact their paid user base.
The company shared on a Telegram channel that it would eliminate the “Play video sound with screen off” feature from the Video toolbox and the “Turn-off screen” feature from the Game toolbox through over-the-air updates.
While Xiaomi doesn’t detail the reason for removing these features, the announcement mentions it’s “due to compliance requirements.”
YouTube has recently been encouraging more users to subscribe to YouTube Premium.
They’ve taken steps to discourage ad blocking, such as slowing down video playback for users with ad blockers and making it harder to skip ads.
Xiaomi has confirmed that this change will impact all smartphones running MIUI 12, MIUI 13, MIUI 14, and the newly launched HyperOS.
This includes models like Xiaomi 14, Xiaomi 13, Xiaomi 13 Pro, and Xiaomi 12T.
Interestingly, Xiaomi initially introduced this feature to enable video playback without needing the screen to be active through its MIUI 12 update in 2021.
A recent report suggested that YouTube might introduce PiP mode for non-Premium users outside the US. However, the company hasn’t confirmed this yet.
Paying YouTube Premium subscribers using affected Xiaomi models should still access PiP or background player mode for YouTube videos.
