YouTube blocks background playback in mobile browsers for non-Premium users

Technology Feb 02, 2026

YouTube has just made it so you can't play videos in the background on mobile browsers like Samsung Internet, Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, or Safari—unless you're a Premium subscriber.
Now, if you lock your screen or switch apps, the video will pause right away.
Reports surfaced in late January 2026, and Google confirmed the update on February 2, 2026.

Google says background playback is meant to be a premium-only perk

Google says background playback is meant to be a Premium-only perk and they want things to work the same everywhere.
As a spokesperson put it, "we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms."
If you're still getting background play on some browsers (like Brave), that's probably not going to last long.