YouTube: Picture-in-picture support is coming to iOS 'in a matter of days' [Update]

iOS 14 Hero Picture In Picture (Image credit: Rene Ritchie)

What you need to know

YouTube says everyone is going to get picture-in-picture support within days.
Picture-in-picture support was previously only available as an experimental feature.
YouTube's experimental feature came to a close this past weekend.

Update, April 11 (7:20 AM ET): YouTube has backtracked on its promise that picture-in-picture support would be coming to all iOS users "in a matter of days."

YouTube's picture-in-picture testing phase ended this past weekend but don't worry, the outfit says that everyone will be able to enjoy the future "in a matter of days."

YouTube ended its picture-in-picture experiment just days ago with no word on what was going to come next. Those who already had the feature enabled found that they could still use it without issue, but those who didn't were no longer able to flick the switch that would bring picture-in-picture support to their account. Now, though, it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel after YouTube responded to one Twitter question to say that the feature is still coming — and within days for all iOS 15 users.

Are you using an iOS smartphone? If so, the Picture-in-Picture feature is still rolling out & will be available in a matter of days across all iOS 15+ devices. Tweet back @ us if needed.Are you using an iOS smartphone? If so, the Picture-in-Picture feature is still rolling out & will be available in a matter of days across all iOS 15+ devices. Tweet back @ us if needed.— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) April 10, 2022 April 10, 2022

That's excellent news, of course, and it also appears to suggest that the picture-in-picture feature will be available to everyone worldwide, too. The person asking the question is located in India and while there had been some confusion as to whether picture-in-picture support would be a US-only thing, this tweet would suggest that won't be the case at all.

Being able to watch YouTube in picture-in-picture mode is one of the best iPhone and iPad features we could have hoped for, especially for those who want to be able to watch content while doing other things. Now, we wait for YouTube to enable picture-in-picture support for everyone, everywhere. Assuming this tweet is accurate, that is.

Update, April 11 (7:20 am ET) — YouTube has backtracked on its promise that picture-in-picture support would be coming to all iOS users "in a matter of days."

After promising that picture-in-picture support would be rolling out to all iOS users "in a matter of days," YouTube is now walking back that statement. The company said that it mispoke and actually was talking about the YouTube TV app when it mentioned picture-in-picture support on iOS.

The company did not say when (or if) support for picture-in-picture would be coming to iPhone and iPad users for non-Premium users.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.