YouTube moves to limit background playback feature for free users

California (Web Desk): YouTube is continuing its efforts to encourage free users to switch to its Premium subscription, and as part of this strategy, the company has decided to restrict access to one of its popular features — background playback.

According to reports, YouTube is planning to block background playback for free users on mobile browsers. While this feature has already been exclusive to Premium users on Google Chrome, many free users had been accessing it through other mobile browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Samsung Internet.

Now, several users have reported that the feature is no longer working for them. In response, Google released a statement confirming that it is taking steps to address the issue. Although some users can still use background playback for now, it is expected to be disabled for them as well in the near future.

Following criticism from users over the restriction, Google clarified that background playback was originally designed only for YouTube Premium subscribers. The company noted that free users were accessing the feature through mobile browsers, and measures are now being implemented to prevent this.