By now we all know that YouTube is a fantastical source of music. You get the originals, great remixes, some interviews and live shows all mixed into one.

But when it comes to using the YouTube app on mobile, it has one really shitty flaw, explains Mashable:

Playback is only available when the app is front and center [sic] on a user’s screen, and it stops when you shift your attentions elsewhere and open another.

Lame!

Turns out there is a workaround for both Android and iOS, though, which allow you to use your phone while YouTube is playing your chosen track list.

Here’s how:

Android 

Playing YouTube jams in the background of your phone is much simpler for Android systems than iOS, which is fitting since they’re both Google products.

Open up your Chrome browser, and navigate to YouTube.com.

Hit the three-dot menu button on the top right corner of the screen. Head to the “Request desktop site” option near the bottom of the list, and tap the field to turn it on. Check out how it should look below:

Then, you can pick out the song you want to play. Accept any popups asking for permission for YouTube to display notifications.

Once your song is playing, you can leave the Chrome app in the background and move onto other tasks. The playback will stop at first — but you control the track via the phone’s notifications menu.

iOS

iPhone users have an extra hurdle to jump through to get YouTube in the background of their phones. You’ll have to download a new mobile browser, Dolphin, unless you happen to use it already.

Once you have the browser, go to YouTube.com. Select the song you want to listen to, press play, and leave the page. You’ll be able to control playback via the iOS Control Center.

You can even put your phone aside and the song will keep playing. You can control it on the lockscreen.

A bit of admin, but there you have it so happy listening!

Oh, and if you have no idea who Danny Brown is, here’s a lovely track to test out your new YouTube trick:

[source:mashable]