As YouTube's popularity has grown over the years, Google has chosen to retire many of the video hosting service's features behind a paywall, such as ad-free viewing, SharePlay on iOS, and the ability to listen to YouTube audio on the iPhone when the app is closed.
YouTube Premium costs $ 13.99 per month to access these features, but if all you want to do is listen to YouTube- hosted audio like podcasts, music, or lectures when you're in other apps or when your iPhone is locked and in your pocket, there's a way To achieve this without paying the subscription price .
The following steps show you how
1- Launch Safari on your iPhone and visit the YouTube website , then search for the video whose audio you want to listen to .
2- Next, press the aA button in the Safari address bar , then select Request Desktop Website from the pop-up menu .
3- Press the play button or tap the video to start playing, while ignoring or dismissing any pop-ups that encourage you to open the YouTube mobile app.
4- Now, lock your iPhone using the device's side button, the audio will pause, but you can just press the play button on the lock screen playback control to resume listening .
5- After following the mentioned steps, audio from YouTube will continue to play on your locked iPhone for as long as the video continues, leaving you free to put your device in your pocket and listen through headphones .