How to Use Brave Playlist for YouTube Background Play (iOS) (2025)

If you are an iPhone user who wants to listen to YouTube with the screen off, but you don’t want to deal with complex “Sideloading” or unreliable Shortcuts, Brave Browser has a hidden feature just for you.

What is Brave Playlist?

Exclusive to the iOS version of Brave, “Playlist” allows you to save any video or audio stream to a dedicated player. This player acts like a music app (Apple Music / Spotify), allowing for:

• Background Play: Works when you switch apps or lock the screen.
• Offline Play: Automatically downloads the stream for data-free listening.
• Picture-in-Picture: Native support.

How to Use It

1. Download Brave: Get Brave Browser from the App Store.
2. Go to YouTube: Open youtube.com in Brave.
3. Add to Playlist:
   • Tap the specific “Add to Brave Playlist” button that appears in the URL bar.
   • OR: Tap the “Three Dots” menu > “Add to Brave Playlist”.
4. Open the Player: Tap the “Playlist” icon (three lines) in the bottom bar.
5. Play: Start your video. You can now lock your phone, and the audio will keep playing.

Why This is the Best “Guppie” Solution

In our research of user types, we define “Guppies” as users who want a solution that “just works” without technical setup.

• No Revoking: Unlike Sideloaded apps, Brave never expires.
• No Breaking: Unlike Shortcuts, it doesn’t rely on complex web scraping that breaks when YouTube changes a button.
• Safe: It’s a verified app from the App Store.

The Limitation

Brave Playlist requires you to manually “Add” every video you want to hear. It doesn’t support “Autoplay” from YouTube’s own recommendations seamlessly.

Want an automatic solution? YT Nonstop is building a native Safari extension that brings this “Background Play” capability directly into the YouTube website, so you don’t have to build playlists manually.

Join the Waitlist for the Safari Beta.