Are you a YouTube Premium subscriber? If so, you may have noticed that you can’t minimize a video in the YouTube app and watch it in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. Instead, when you minimize a video by pressing the small down arrow in the upper left corner while in portrait mode, a minibar appears at the bottom of the screen. Not exactly what you were expecting, right?

This new feature is part of a server-side upgrade currently rolling out to some users in the U.S. with version 19.29.37 of the YouTube for Android app. However, not everyone will receive this update immediately, as it seems to be part of a Google A/B test.

Google has stated that they are testing an update that allows viewers to move and resize the miniplayer while watching a video on mobile, tablet, and web platforms. This update is currently only available to a small group of users.

For example, even though my Pixel 6 Pro with Android 15 beta 4 installed is running version 19.29.37 of the YouTube app, I am still seeing the minibar when I minimize a video on YouTube. Once you receive the update, minimizing a video will activate PiP mode instead of creating a minibar.

So if you’re eagerly waiting for this new feature to arrive on your device, keep an eye out for updates from Google regarding its availability to all Android users using the YouTube app. Stay tuned for more exciting developments!