YouTube is Testing New Lock Screen Feature on Mobile
- Laurent Giret
- Jul 06, 2023
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Google has started testing a new Lock Screen feature on YouTube that lets users on mobile devices disable touch input while watching a video in full-screen mode. This is meant to avoid accidental taps that could cause a video to pause or quit, which is probably something that happens far too often when you’re holding your phone.
The experimental Lock Screen feature was first spotted by Cord Cutters News (via TechCrunch), and it’s currently only available for YouTube Premium subscribers. It first needs to be enabled on youtube.com/new or by going into Settings > Try new features on the YouTube mobile apps.
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Once enabled, YouTube Premium members can turn on this Lock Screen feature by tapping the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen while watching a video in full-screen mode. Netflix introduced a similar feature on its mobile apps back in 2020, and it can certainly help to avoid distractions while watching a video.
This new Lock Screen experiment will be available on iOS and Android until July 30, and YouTube Premium members can opt out of it at any time. You can also share your feedback on this new feature with the YouTube team by filling out this form.