This mobile browser just brought back free YouTube background playback

In its attempt to get more users to sign up for a subscription, YouTube has been increasingly aggressive in shutting down workarounds to access Premium features. For example, third-party browsers lost their ability to play YouTube videos in the background earlier this year. This was not a coincidence, as a Google spokesperson confirmed to Android Authority that YouTube had been updated to prevent non-Premium users from accessing the feature. But it looks like at least one of those third-party browsers has now found a solution.

Ever since the block was put in place, it seems Microsoft has been hard at work trying to find a workaround. Spotted by leaker Leopeva64, the company appears to have restored YouTube background play on its experimental Edge Canary mobile browser. In their social post, the leaker shows a YouTube video continuing to play despite switching to other tabs or navigating back to the home screen.

Something else that should be pointed out is that Microsoft has added audio indicators to the tab card, so you can tell which tab the audio is playing from. This is viewable from the tab switcher. It also appears that there is an option to mute or unmute a website from the tab context menu.