YouTube Premium subscribers can no longer sign up to test YouTube’s picture-in-picture feature on iOS. The feature known as PiP has disappeared from the list of beta features available on YouTube, as it was previously listed with an expiration date of April 8.
Some reports say that some users are seeing a “The feature you’re trying to access has been disabled” banner to let them know that the test is over, and the reports also add that the feature is still working on many of their accounts that previously signed up for the test.
Picture-in-picture support for system-wide video services is generally available for iPhone and iPad, but YouTube support for this feature has been patchy, requiring workarounds like viewing through a browser rather than your native app.
YouTube Premium Trial became a much simpler feature and allowed viewers to continue watching after leaving the main YouTube app itself.
YouTube PIP support testing for Premium users should always be limited. First announced in June last year, the trial period was originally scheduled to end on October 31, before being later extended. While the beta was for Premium users only, YouTube last month confirmed again that it expects to roll out the feature to all iOS users, including non-premium users, “in the coming months.”
With any luck, the end of YouTube Premium’s picture-in-picture experience will mean that Google’s video platform is ready to launch this same feature more widely. Last month, the search giant brought picture-in-picture support to YouTube TV on iOS.
source: 9to5google
