14h ago

YSK: You can install an extension on Firefox (android) that allows you to play YouTube videos with your screen locked: (perfect for listening to obscure music)

It can be a bit buggy at times, but when it comes to just playing music with the screen locked, it's perfect.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-background-play-fix/

Edit: I forgot to also mention that ad blocker extensions make sailing the seas on mobile much more manageable. Extentions, in general, have been a really nice addition.

43 comments

I'm good with ReVanced, thanks.
Playing YouTube on a mobile browser is finicky at best.
- Speaking of, where can I get revanced? There seem to be three different revanced managers floating about...
  
  Here's their Github, enjoy friend!
  
  i have it and i think i got it from revanced.app, my house hasnt like exploded yet so that one should be good
  also ublock doesnt like revanced.net for some reason

Or just download it and play using VLC.
I mean... your music is gonna sound so funny if your internet stutters.
- Look, I usually laugh at audiophiles for being snobs, but getting music from YouTube is gonna make your music sound funny without Internet issues
  Get the music elsewhere if you're gonna play local files

RiMusic https://github.com/fast4x/RiMusic
SimpMusic https://github.com/maxrave-dev/SimpMusic
OuterTune https://github.com/OuterTune/OuterTune
Metrolist https://github.com/mostafaalagamy/Metrolist
InnerTune https://github.com/z-huang/InnerTune
Any of these (YouTube Music) players are better choices than using an extension on a browser.
Also better features like lyrics, better interface...
PS: extensions can access all of your browser data, you need to trust the extensions hoping that they aren't sending your data to some 3rd party
- I've used most of these and quite frankly they are not good. Each of them quit working randomly or wouldn't play certain tracks and wouldn't get an update for days or weeks, at which point I'd move on to the next and get exactly the same experience. They're FOSS apps, and I'm fairly certain Google is to blame for breaking them, but even so if they are unusable for days or weeks at a time I cannot recommend them.
  If you just want a YouTube app with no ads and background playback I would recommend PipePipe. It's what I've settled on after trying everything else, and it's fantastic. Google breaks it all the time, but updates very quickly bring it back online.
  If you want something FOSS that's closer to the YT Music experience, I don't know what to tell you.
  
  ReVanced is better, it's a cracked YouTube app
  I just watched it when it stopped working after 8 months without issue. This is normal for it
  
  RiMusic is update regularly, no third party player is perfect, even PipiPipe or Newpipe can break suddenly, Google/YouTube don't like third party apps using their services and are always implementing ways to break apps
- I'm pretty sure extensions can request browsing data for some specific URLs rather than every site you visit. If an extension with functionality on one website asks for access to all of them, then yeah it's a bad sign.
  
  https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Browser_Extension_Vulnerabilities_Cheat_Sheet.html

BE WARNED. These extensions are a prime target for purchase and/or hijacking by malicious threat actors, who then use them to gain persistence on your browsers and steal data. There is no reason to increase your browser attack surface for this feature when better alternatives have been posted in this thread.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chrome-extensions-with-14-million-installs-steal-browsing-data/
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/01/dozens-of-backdoored-chrome-extensions-discovered-on-2-6-million-devices/
There are dozens of these articles dating back the last five years or so.
- To top up your comment, you can get the permissions required for each extension in Firefox for Android. Extension Manager --> click the extension --> Permissions
  In the case of this specific extension, it requires access to the data of only 3 domains :
  youtube.com
  youtube-nocookie.com
  vimeo.com
  Many other extensions are far worst in regards to permissions that this one.
  It is a good habit to check what are the permissions required before using any extension or phone apps for that matter.
  Thanks for the reminder!

And for everyone else who doesn't want extra garbage on their phone it's: switch to 'Desktop Site' > continue doing whatever else. This applies to both Firefox and Firefox Focus
No need promote/install more unnecessary stuff on your phones 🤦
Edit- that being said, I still include no script/ublock in FF and use FFF for yt videos when I don't want to clog my Tubular history (newpipe fork with sponsor block) with useless stuff that I'll never want to rewatch.

You know Firefox for android does this natively. No plugin required.
- That was my thought.. I was thinking "I already do this without an extension", so I had to verify that I wasn't using an extension that I forgot about.

There are simpler ways - using newpipe, grayjay, etc.
- It's just a single install. But fair point. This allows you to create playlists, though.
  
  It's not gonna mean much of shit soon, anyone in the know is ditching Firefox for alternatives.
  Firefox has changed their terms of service and is now starting to sell user data.

Use fennec or Ironfox

blud just install newpipe

YSK: Revanced is a thing that exists.

But you don't need an extension for that? Just standard firefox can already do that.
- Yeah. For me the video stops when I lock the screen (or change apps) but I can then press play again on the lock screen (or in the drop down notifications when changed to another app).
- This might be about the auto pause that happens during playlist. However OP did not say so I might be wrong.

You can also use yt music revanced.

What I do is I just jump into Termux and yt-dlp that shit. Then I can listen to it however I want, and I have it for ever, if I want.
edit: (Also I'm just not a huge fan of addons, but if you are and this works for you, that's cool)

I also use it to listen to podcasts/ lore videos without having my screen on when I'm falling asleep. It's also nice for driving. If you make a playlist and have an ad blocker, it WILL continue on to the next song.
I'm actually thinking of forking Firefox and making a lite version mostly geared towards playing YouTube content without ads and without restrictions.
- Just use NewPipe or one of it's forks.

For those on iOS: there's an app called "Vinegar" that replaces the YouTube player with a vanilla HTML5 player that supports background/PiP play without YT Premium.
Alternatively on iPhones with "dynamic island", minimize Safari while a video is playing, quickly tap-and-hold the dynamic island area and resume playback. After that you can lock your device and audio will continue playing.

RVX also does this. Install revanced.

This functionality is also built into the brave browser on mobile as well (at least on iOS)
Brave settings -> Media -> Enable Background Audio

43 comments