A very nice new feature will eventually be coming to YouTube for Android! As you can see in the photo above, background audio will soon be enabled for YouTube app. What is background audio exactly? Well the feature will simply allow the audio on whatever YouTube clip you’re watching to continue even if you leave the app or even turn off the screen!
The new feature was discovered in a recent APK teardown done by Android Police. Here’s all the code if you’re interested in that kind of stuff:
<string name=”background_dialog_cancel_bgol”>Cancel</string>
<string name=”background_dialog_learn_more_bgol”>Learn more</string>
<string name=”background_dialog_message_bgol”>YouTube can now keep playing in the background!</string>
<string name=”background_dialog_ok_bgol”>OK</string>
<string name=”background_dialog_title_bgol”>Background</string>
<string name=”background_dialog_turn_off_bgol”>Turn off</string><string name=”pref_background_audio_enabled_summary_bgol”>Continue playing audio when the app is running in the background or the screen is switched off</string>
<string name=”pref_background_audio_enabled_title_bgol”>Background audio</string><string name=”syncing_video_bgol”>Syncing video…</string>
<string name=”youtube_playing_in_the_background_bgol”>YouTube playing in the background</string>
While it may seem like a small thing, I’m certain that many people out there will be very excited when it’s enabled. There’s a lot of good music to be found on YouTube but you currently need to stay on the app in order to listen. The bigger question for me is whether or not Playlists will keep running in the background. If that works, many will have another nice streaming option.
