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How to enable or disable Picture-in-Picture (PiP) on iPhone or iPad

    Picture-in-Picture, or PiP, is the functionality that allows you to watch videos from various apps, such as Hulu or YouTube, in a mini player on your device’s home screen while at the same time browsing other apps on your device – it looks like a tiny picture.

    You may really like the feature, despise it, or just randomly stumble across it without knowing how or why it functions. On iOS devices, you can turn on or turn off this functionality at the device level. This allows you to override any app specific settings and lets you avoid having to open each and every app setting to turn PiP off or on.

    Continue with the guide below to learn how to use PiP, how to enable PiP, and how to turn it off if you find the option tedious.


    How to enable Picture-in-Picture (PiP) in the device settings

    1. Navigate to and open your iOS Settings app.
    2. Scroll to and select General.
    3. Select Picture in Picture.
    4. Switch the toggle ON for Start PiP automatically.

    Test PiP to see if it’s working

    To test that it’s working, start watching a video in the YouTube app or another video app where it’s worked before, and swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

    You should return to the home screen, but a mini version of the video should be playing. You can move this around the screen as needed while you browse/use other apps.

    To test that it’s working, start watching a video in YouTube app, and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to exit the app. The video should no longer appear on the home screen when you exit the YouTube app.


    How to disable Picture-in-Picture (PiP) in the device settings

    If you don’t like the PIP option in other apps either, such as Hulu, and want to shut it off completely, you can disable it at the device level. Here’s how to do that.

    1. Navigate to and open your iOS Settings app.
    2. Scroll to and select General.
    3. Select Picture in Picture.
    4. Switch the toggle OFF for Start PiP automatically.

    Test PiP to make sure it’s off

    To test that it’s working, start watching a video in any video app, and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return to your home screen.

    The video should no longer appear on the home screen when you exit the YouTube app.


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