YouTube viewers across Europe have been noticing the PIP feature soft dropping on their devices for free.

YouTube viewers across Europe may have noticed a new feature has just dropped for them. Certain countries in Europe are now able to use the picture-in-picture feature on the YouTube app for free.

Whilst YouTube haven’t officially announced the feature, users across Europe have been noticing that it has become available to them. Users have been reporting the feature cropping up for free users on both Android and iOS across Europe.

It’s unclear exactly which regions the feature has become available in. There are also limitations for PIP use with some content, such as music videos.

Why is free picture-in-picture a big deal?

The picture-in-picture (PIP) feature has been available for free users in the US since 2022. However, for users around the world PIP has been limited to Premium subscribers.

It makes sense as a free feature as it increases engagement and watch time on videos, a bonus for YouTube as well as viewers.

What is YouTube picture-in-picture?

YouTube picture-in-picture (or PIP) is a feature that allows viewers to minimise playback of a video to use their phone or tablet whilst the video continues playing in a small window.

Picture-in-picture enables content to play whilst users scroll social media, check their emails, or browse the web. It’s a handy feature for multitasking that doesn’t interrupt the viewing of content.

Users can drag the window across their screen to put it in the most convenient spot for the app they’re using or to make way to click something behind the video.

How to use YouTube picture-in-picture?

If you have the latest YouTube app and are either in the US, certain parts of Europe, or a Premium user then you can follow these steps to activate YouTube PIP:

  1. Play any YouTube video in the app
  2. Press the home button or swipe up on most Android devices
  3. The video will now shrink to a minimised window that you can move around your screen whilst browsing behind it