How to listen to YouTube with the screen off

How to listen to YouTube with screen off

YouTube has arguably the biggest database when it comes to music and videos on almost any topic. It’s no wonder that it catches millions of users every day. Have you ever wondered how to listen to YouTube with the screen off? Find out in this article.

We all love listening to YouTube in our free time or even when we are doing some task. However, due to the nature of its app, the mobile phone screen has to be on whenever you are playing something.

Sometimes we don’t want to watch content but just to listen to something on YouTube instead. As soon as you lock your device during listening, anything that you were playing will pause immediately. On the other hand, if you keep the screen on, it is a massive drain on the battery and can also cause some inconvenience.

Do not worry, though, in this article, we will teach you how to have YouTube not show video, only audio.

Table of Contents

  1. How to listen to YouTube with the screen off
    1. YouTube only audio, no video – Android (The web browser tip)
    2. For iPhone – The Safari trick
  2. Wrap Up

How to listen to YouTube with the screen off

Unfortunately, there is no workaround for this situation in the YouTube app, unless you purchase a subscription to either YouTube Music ($9.99/month) or YouTube Premium ($11.99/month) – at the time this article was published.

However, there are some other tricks that you can use to listen to YouTube without having the screen on.

YouTube only audio, no video – Android (The web browser tip)

If you are wondering how to listen to YouTube without the screen on an Android, there is a straightforward process. Perform the following steps on any Android device to listen to YouTube even when your phone is locked.

This procedure works on all Android devices:

  • Download and install Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser app on your phone. On all Android devices, Google Chrome is available by default;
  • Go to your Google Chrome browser and type www.youtube.com;
  • Press the “three dots” on the right side. You will see different available options;
  • Check the “Desktop site” now. The page will directly change, and you will see a Desktop version of the website;
  • Play any video you would like to listen to now;
  • Then, press the home button to go to your phone. The video will pause at this point. Pull the screen from above to reveal the paused video;
  • Press the play button, and now you can lock the phone and continue to listen to the video in a way that you get only YouTube sound, no video.

For iPhone – The Safari trick

If you have an iPhone, do not worry, there is a similar trick that you can use to play YouTube even when the screen is locked. This method is working on the latest iOS version 13.6.1.

Follow the procedure below to listen to YouTube with the screen off on iPhone:

  • Launch Safari and navigate to www.youtube.com;
  • Press the “AA” on the browser’s top left side;
  • Now press “Request Desktop Website”;
  • You will now see the desktop version of YouTube. Play any video you would like to listen to with your screen off;
  • Lock your phone screen now. The video will pause instantly;
  • Now you can press the power button again to access the lock screen. You will see the media paused in Safari. Just press the play button to continue listening. Now the YouTube video will not be playing, just audio.

Wrap Up

YouTube is an awesome resource for education, entertainment, and to pass the time satisfactorily. You do not need to purchase the subscription if you do not want to.

You can easily listen to any YouTube video or audio without having to worry about keeping the screen locked.

Both methods are quite similar and straightforward – besides, both the approaches mentioned above work flawlessly on the latest Android and iPhone software.

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