How to Use Picture-in-Picture on Your Android

This Android feature lets you watch your favorite videos while multitasking

by
Molly McLaughlin
Molly McLaughlin
Senior Content Strategist
Molly K. McLaughlin has been a technology writer since 2004. Her work has appeared on many tech sites across the web including PCMag, Dealnews, Wirecutter and many others.
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Molly McLaughlin
Updated on July 04, 2021
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Jon Fisher
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
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Article reviewed on Apr 21, 2020
Jon Fisher

Picture-in-Picture (PiP) is a feature available on Android smartphones running Android 8.0 Oreo and later. It allows you to multitask. For instance, you can search for a restaurant while video chatting with a friend or watch a funny video on a website while getting directions on Google Maps. PiP is a nice feature for heavy multitaskers who jump from app to app.

Enable PiP Apps on Android

Make sure your Android apps are up to date, then:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Tap Apps & notifications.

  3. Go to Advanced > Special app access.

    Apps & Notifications, Advanced, and Special App Access in Android settings

  4. Select Picture-in-picture.

  5. Choose an app from the list.

  6. Tap the Allow picture-in-picture toggle to enable PiP.

    Turning on PiP for an app in Android settings

Compatible Apps

Since this is an Android feature, many of Google's top apps support picture-in-picture, including Chrome, YouTube, and Google Maps. However, YouTube's PiP mode requires a subscription to YouTube Premium, its ad-free paid subscription platform. PiP mode also works with YouTube TV, the company's streaming TV service.

Other compatible apps include:

How to Launch Picture-in-Picture

How you launch picture-in-picture depends on the app:

  • In Google Chrome, go to a site to start playing a video in full screen, then tap Home on your Android.
  • With some apps such as VLC, you have to enable the feature in the app settings first.
  • On WhatsApp, when you're in a video call, tap the preview of the video to activate PiP.

PiP Controls

When you've figured out how to launch PiP in your favorite app, you'll see a window with your video or other content in the lower-right of your display.

Tap the window to access the controls. In some cases, you'll see Play, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Maximize\Full screen that brings you back to the app in full screen. For playlists, tap the Fast-Forward icon to move to the next song in the list. Some videos have only Exit and Full-screen icons.

You can drag the window anywhere on the screen and pull it to the bottom of the screen to exit the window.

Some apps have a headphone icon that you can tap to play audio in the background without visual videos.

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