YouTube Background Playback for Non-Premium Users Reportedly Blocked on Third-Party Browsers

Feb 2, 2026 - 06:00
YouTube Background Playback for Non-Premium Users Reportedly Blocked on Third-Party Browsers
Google has reportedly confirmed that it’s now blocking YouTube background playback on third-party mobile browsers, including Samsung Internet, Brave, and Vivaldi. This was a popular workaround used by non-Premium users. The latest update makes sure that background playback is still only available to YouTube Premium members. When trying to access the background workaround, users are reportedly seeing the “MediaOngoingActivity” notification.