To stop YouTube Premium from turning off when your phone locks, the fix is to enable YouTube premium background play in the app's settings, specifically, set it to “Always on.” This is the official, built-in solution that lets audio keep playing with your screen off, and it works on both Android and iOS as long as you’re signed in with a Premium account.
How to enable YouTube premium background play when your phone locks
YouTube Premium includes background play as a core benefit, and by default it’s set to “Always on.” If yours has been changed or reset, here’s how to turn it back on so videos keep playing after you lock your phone.
- Open the YouTube app on your phone.
- Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Select “Settings” from the menu.
- Tap “Background & Downloads.”
- Tap “Background Play.”
- Choose “Always on.”
Once you select “Always on,” videos will continue playing audio whenever your screen is off or you switch to another app. This is the most reliable method because it uses YouTube’s own feature rather than relying on workarounds. If you still experience playback stopping, the next step is to check whether your phone’s battery settings are interfering.
Check your battery optimization settings
Even with background play set to “Always on,” some phones aggressively kill background apps to save power. You’ll want to exclude YouTube from battery optimization so the system doesn’t suspend it when your screen locks. Here’s how to adjust this on Android and iOS.
Android battery optimization
- Open your device’s Settings app.
- Tap “Battery” or “Battery & performance.”
- Look for “Battery optimization” or “App battery management.”
- Find “YouTube” in the list of apps.
- Select “Don’t optimize” or “Not optimized.”
This tells Android to leave YouTube alone even when power-saving modes are active. The exact menu names vary by manufacturer (Samsung, Xiaomi, Pixel, etc.), so if you can’t find “Battery optimization,” look for “App launch,” “Background app management,” or “Power settings” and disable any restrictions for YouTube.
iOS battery optimization
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap “Battery.”
- Tap “Battery Usage by App” (or “Battery Health & Usage” on older iOS versions).
- Find YouTube in the list.
- Ensure “Background App Refresh” is enabled for YouTube.
On iOS, you can also go to Settings → General → Background App Refresh and make sure YouTube is toggled on. This prevents iOS from suspending the app when you lock your phone. If background play still stops after adjusting these settings, picture-in-picture mode offers a visual workaround that keeps playback going.
Use picture-in-picture mode as a workaround
Picture-in-picture (PiP) is a built-in feature on both Android and iOS that shrinks your video into a small floating window. While it doesn’t replace background play for audio-only listening, it’s a useful alternative when you want to keep the video visible while using other apps or when your phone locks.
Enable PiP on Android
- Play a video in the YouTube app.
- Press the Home button or swipe up to go to your home screen.
- The video will automatically shrink into a floating PiP window.
- Lock your phone, audio continues playing in the PiP window.
Enable PiP on iOS
- Start playing a video in the YouTube app.
- Swipe up from the bottom edge to open the Control Center.
- Tap the PiP button (a rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside).
- The video shrinks into a floating window; you can lock your phone and audio keeps playing.
PiP is especially handy if you’re watching a tutorial or a talk while doing something else on your phone. It’s not the same as true background play, the video stays on screen, but it prevents playback from stopping when your phone locks, which solves the core problem for many users. If you prefer audio-only listening, stick with the “Always on” background play setting and battery optimization tweaks above.
