YouTube picture-in-picture now available for free for U.S. Android users

U.S.-based Android users that watch videos on YouTube but don't have a subscription to YouTube Red or YouTube Premium will now be able to use a long-requested feature.

As originally discovered by George Burduli at XDA Developers, users of the YouTube app on Android will now be able to use picture-in-picture functionality. Available as a toggle within the app, once it's activated, it allows users to have YouTube videos playing on their Android devices while using functions outside of the app, such as browsing the Internet.

The major caveat of this feature (aside from its currently limited availability to Android users in the United States) is that it will not work with copyrighted music content or if video uploaders decide to not allow it on a per-video basis.

Google details how to activate, deactivate, and use YouTube's picture-in-picture mode in a dedicated article on the official YouTube Help site.