YouTube TV may soon let you keep listening even when you can’t watch

Soon, even when you can't watch, you'll be able to continue listening to TV shows on YouTube TV. According to a report, Google has finally added background playback capabilities to its YouTube TV streaming service. The company confirmed in a statement that the "experiment" played by YouTube TV was enabled after locking the phone.

Google reports the function was found some weeks ago by Reddit users. The reason being, even when they minimized the video application to the background of their mobile devices, they could keep up with YouTube TV audio. With Background playback, listeners can continue to listen to content on their phone if the screen is off or locked. So, if you can't see the action, you could still listen to the audio. It might be so helpful in so many cases-for example, you are listening to a live sporting event, and you need to pick up your child from school but can continue listening to the game while you safely drive.

Playback in the background is available with Google's premium subscription for YouTube. That premium subscription also removes ads from your videos. But it's never been available on the Google live TV service, which costs at least $72.99 a month, with ads. Instead, if you change apps or turn off the screen when you're in the YouTube TV app, the show stops and the audio cuts off. Allison Toh, YouTube's product communications manager.

But still, it's not a feature of the app proper, and Toh wouldn't answer when asked if there are plans to roll it out more widely. The experiment, for now, is available only to a small group of users on Android and iOS mobile devices, she said.