How To: Fix Firefox's YouTube Background Playback Feature on Android

Fix Firefox's YouTube Background Playback Feature on Android

Until recently, Firefox had the ability to continue playing YouTube videos in the background after minimizing the browser. It worked great as a YouTube Red alternative, but unfortunately, Mozilla removed this feature after some pushback from Google. Thankfully, there's a way to get it back.

It's really just a matter of installing a Firefox add-on, so it couldn't be any easier to get YouTube background playback working again. Let's get straight to it, then.

First, make sure you're running the latest version of Firefox for Android, then just head to the following link. From there, tap the toggle switch to enable the add-on, which is provided by developer Timothy Chien.

From now on, you can lock your screen, press your home button, or switch to any other app after you've started playing a YouTube video in Firefox, and the audio will keep on playing in the background. You even get a notification that lets you pause playback or switch tracks in a playlist, so it's perfect for playing music.

Is this your favorite non-root solution for getting YouTube background playback without paying for YouTube Red, or do you have another app you'd like to suggest? If so, tell us all about it in the comment section below.

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Cover image and screenshots by Dallas Thomas/Gadget Hacks

2 Comments

Hi, I can't find this add-on. I have the latest Firefox.
Running Android 7.1.2.
Any idea? Thx!

The link to the Firefox extension works for me (and it works great).

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