Top 6 Methods to Fix YouTube Won’t Play in the Background on iPhone

Updated Nov 28,2018 | by Joy

YouTube is one of the biggest platforms allowing users to enjoy the videos and music they love, upload original content and share it with friends. What’s more, you can play YouTube in the background on iPhone while doing something else on iOS devices. However, many users reported in the various forums that YouTube won’t play in the background. Have you been in this situation? Do not worry. In this article, I will show you six methods to fix it.

You must be sure to keep your iOS devices connected to a stable Cellular Data or Wi-Fi network while viewing YouTube videos. To fix YouTube won’t play in the background on iPhone or iPad, simply go to “Settings” > “Cellular” or “WLAN” to check whether your device is connected to a complete stable Internet connection. Or you can turn “Cellular Data” or “WLAN” off, then wait for a few minutes and turn it on to see if it works.

If you always use the Safari app to listen to YouTube on iOS devices, check the steps below to fix YouTube won’t play in the background.

You may interest: 3 Ways to Extract Audio from Videos on Your iPhone

Step 1. Open Safari app on your iPhone or iPad and visit YouTube.com.

Step 2. On its home page, click the three vertical dots on the right corner and then click “Desktop”.

Try to use another web browser to fix this issue. If you use Firefox this time, just simply enjoy your YouTube videos via Safari as this problem may occur with some third-party web browsers. 

Remember not to visit many other windows with the same browser while enjoying YouTube videos in the background on iPhone or iPad, otherwise the video might be paused. Here you can use another browser to visit multiple webpages.

YouTube Red allows users to play YouTube videos in the background, but you need to pay $9.99 a month for subscribing it. Besides, it also enables you to download any YouTube videos you like. 

If you want to try this method to fix YouTube won’t play in the background, you can sign up for a free one-month trial before you buy. Go to YouTube's Red landing page to sign in with your Google account and sign up. 

If you still can’t fix this headache problem, try to download YouTube to Mp3 format and then enjoy it in background on your iPhone or iPad. 

Today we will introduce you an easy tool – IOTransfer to make it. It is a user-friendly video downloader enabling you to download videos from many popular sites like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc. It can also allow you to convert videos to many compatible formats. Now, let’s see how to use it to download videos from YouTube to MP3.

Also Read: 

How to Download Vimeo to MP3 in the Top 3 Methods

How to Convert Instagram Video to MP3

Step 1. Free download and install IOTransfer to your Windows 7/8/8.1/10.  Then connect your iPhone to PC.

Step 2. Launch IOTransfer and go to “VIDEOS” at the top menu. Then paste the YouTube video link into the URL bar and click “Download”.

Step 3. After downloading, go to “Converter” > “Add Files” to choose your downloaded videos. Remember to select MP3 as your output format. Here do not forget to check the box saying "Automatically transfer the converted video into your iOS device". Then tap on "Convert Now" and enjoy them on your iPhone after converting.

Bottom Line:

Hope the above 6 methods can help you fix YouTube won’t play in the background. If you have a better way to do this, do not hesitate to leave a comment below and drop your knowledge with the rest of us.

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