Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR Microsoft is testing a new feature on its Edge browser for Android that lets you play videos in the background.
The feature can be enabled through the Edge flags page. It works on YouTube, so you can play YouTube videos in the background.
Edge Canary for Android also offers a built-in ad blocker that works on YouTube.
One of the main benefits of subscribing to the $14 YouTube Premium plan is that it allows you to play videos in the background. But you might soon be able to enjoy this premium benefit for free if you use the Microsoft Edge browser.
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X user Leopeva64 discovered a new flag in Microsoft Edge Canary for Android that allows you to enable background video playback. This feature allows you to play videos from YouTube and other sites in the background.
To try it out, follow these steps: First, download Microsoft Edge Canary on your Android device, type edge://flags in the search field, and press Enter. Then, search for Video Background Play and choose Enabled from its status drop-down menu. After that, restart the browser.
Aman Kumar / Android Authority
Next, head back to the Microsoft Edge homepage, tap the hamburger icon at the bottom-right corner, and choose Settings. Then, select Site settings > Background video playback and enable the Background video playback toggle.
Now, YouTube videos will continue to play in the background even if you don’t have a YouTube Premium subscription. The videos won’t pause when you switch tabs in Edge, switch apps, or even lock your device. As mentioned, this also works across other websites.
Edge Canary also shows a pop-up on its first launch that reads, “Turn on Ad blocker to watch videos without interrupting ads.” Choosing Turn On from this pop-up enables an ad blocker in Edge, so you won’t see ads on most websites, including YouTube.
Aman Kumar / Android Authority
If and when both these features eventually become available in the Edge stable build, there will be more reasons to use the Edge browser and fewer reasons to subscribe to YouTube Premium, eventually hurting YouTube Premium subscriber numbers. In addition to Microsoft Edge, there are also apps like YouTube ReVanced that offer all the YouTube Premium perks for free.
Interestingly, a similar thing happened in 2013 when Microsoft released its own YouTube app for Windows Phone. The app did not show ads on videos and also allowed users to download videos. All these violated YouTube’s terms of service; as a result, Google blocked the Microsoft YouTube app for Windows Phone.
Only time will tell whether Google will again take strict action against Microsoft for allowing YouTube video playback in the background and offering ad blockers.
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