Firefox Lets you Play YouTube in the Background on Android

Ever wanted to do something on your smartphone while also listening to music on YouTube? Or simply to listen to a song with your smartphone’s screen off? I know that feeling, yet the ability to play videos in the background is not included. One of the best ways to get YouTube running in the background is to get YouTube Red which adds this capability (through the YouTube Music app) and also removes all the annoying advertisements, but the subscription is not available in all regions.

If this is not an option for you either, then let me tell you that Firefox also lets you Play YouTube in the background on Android. Yes, you are supposed to cheat a little, but it is a must these days as you can take advantage of Firefox playing YouTube videos in the background. It might not be as convenient as Red, but the trick does the job by taking advantage of Firefox’s desktop mode feature.

And I know that there are some new phones like Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 and LG’s V30 which offer split-screen multitasking that will let you have a YouTube window alongside some other activity, but that’s not as elegant as actually working in the background.

Firefox Lets you Play YouTube in the Background on Android:

1. For the start, you have to open up the Firefox app on your Android device;
2. Navigate to the YouTube video you wish to play;
3. Up next, you must go to Settings (three dots located in the upper-right corner);
4. Tap on Request Desktop Site;
5. Start playing the video and then press the Home button on your device to put the app in the background;
6. Pull down the notification bar and press play. And you should better enjoy the fact that the trick works even if your Android phone’s screen is off, so you can use YouTube as a regular music player as well.

Note that the same instructions apply for Chrome users as the trick is not a Firefox exclusive one.