Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Google Messages offered an integrated picture-in-picture YouTube viewer up until mid-2024.
Earlier this year we uncovered signs that Google was working to restore this functionality.
The PiP YouTube player has now started appearing for some Messages beta testers.
When we spot Google working on a new feature for one of its apps, it’s often anyone’s guess just how long we’ll have to wait before it’s ready to go live — assuming it even does at all. That can be a matter of days, weeks, months, or longer. Today we’ve got some good news about a long-ago-spotted upgrade that finally looks like it’s nearly ready for prime time, as it starts hitting beta testers.
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We’re talking specifically about Google Messages, and its support for a handy pop-out YouTube player. It used to be that when a friend texted you the link to a YouTube clip, you could view it right in Messages though a picture-in-picture window that made it easy to keep up with conversations as you watched. But then Google ultimately killed that functionality off back in August 2024.
This past March, however, we started to get the sense that Google might be bringing it back, as one of our APK teardowns provided evidence that the YouTube PiP code was returning. And now, eight months later, it’s finally showing up for beta testers, as Stephan shares on X.
Sure enough, while last time we looked we were able to surface the in-progress PiP UI, it wasn’t then functional. But trying again now, it’s fully operational:
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