Recently, Android 8.0 (Oreo) started rolling out to different devices. The latest Android version brings many great features. One of the most popular among these is the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. PiP mode lets you use video calling apps like Duo, video apps like YouTube, and even apps like Google Maps in a floating window while you multitask easily. The mod will come in handy especially when watching YouTube videos, but unfortunately you must have a YouTube Red subscription to use YouTube in PiP mode. As you can imagine, there is a way to enable YouTube PiP mode on your Android Oreo smartphone without having a YouTube Red subscription:
note: I tried this method on my Nexus 5X running Android 8.0 on my PC running Windows 10 Pro.
Prerequisites for Enabling YouTube PiP Mode
Before we go through the steps required to enable YouTube PiP mode, here are a few things you need to ensure first:
- Download the Custom Navigation Bar app (Free, with in-app purchases) on your device. (I’ve covered the steps below in this article, as installing it can be a bit complicated.)
- Install ADB drivers on your computer. For this, you can choose to download. Minimal ADB and Fast Boot or official Google binaries.
- Enable usb debugging on your Android device. To do this go to your phone’s Settings -> Developer options -> USB debugging and turn this on.
Enable YouTube PiP Mode Without YouTube Red
After making sure that all the prerequisites are met, you can proceed with the steps given below.
- Firstly, connect your phone to your computer. Now open Command Prompt on the computer by pressing Win + X + C on your keyboard. Here, execute the following commandand then grant permission on your phone if prompted.
adb devices
- Once your device has ADB access, Open the Custom Navigation Bar app on your phone. On the first screen, Tap on “Get started”. You will now be asked to grant a specific permission to your device. For this, execute the following commands In Command Prompt:
adb shell
pm grant xyz.paphonb.systemuituner android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
- The “Allow” page in the app should now turn from yellow to green. This signals that you can now go to next page.
- Here, Tap on “Start”. Now the final step involves passing the compatibility test. If your device is compatible with the app, you’ll see an arrow in the navigation bar. tap on to continue.
- When you enter the application, Tap on “Navigation”. rod”. Scroll down here and you will see “Type” under both “Extra left button” and “Extra right button”. Tap one of theseand Select “Keycode”.
- Now Tap on “Keycode”and Choose “Window”.
- There should now be a button in the location you specified. But since you can’t see it yet, let’s assign it with an icon. For this, Tap on “Icon”and choose any option you like. (You can skip this step if you want.)
After all the effort you’ve just put in, it’s time to put it to the test. Play any video on YouTube and instead of tapping the home button, tap the video you just created and enjoy the YouTube PiP mode.
SEE ALSO: Customizing Fingerprint Gestures on Android Oreo
Use PiP Mode on YouTube on Your Android Oreo Device
With this method, you can use PiP mode in the YouTube app whether you are a YouTube Red subscriber or not. Also, this method can work with other apps like Google Maps and Google Duo. You can try different apps to see which ones work with it. When you discover new apps, let me know their names in the comments section below.