It’s no secret that Google wants more people to pay for YouTube Premium. The company has made it clear with its recent fight against ad blockers. Users who try to skip ads are now often forced to choose: turn off the ad blocker or subscribe to Premium. If they don’t pick, videos simply stop playing.
But a surprising challenger has stepped into this digital ring. Microsoft, through its Edge browser on Android, is now offering one of YouTube Premium’s best features for free. It’s a move that feels like a direct response to Google’s push for paid subscriptions.
What’s the big deal? It’s all about playing videos in the background. Imagine listening to your favorite YouTube music mix or a podcast, even when you switch to another app or turn off your phone’s screen. Google usually keeps this handy feature locked behind its Premium paywall. Now, Edge aims to give it to everyone without a monthly fee.
To get your hands on this new feature, you’ll need the experimental Canary version of Microsoft Edge for Android. Once you have it, you can find and activate this background playback option in the browser’s test settings. It’s a peek at what might come to the regular Edge app soon.
This isn’t the first time Microsoft has challenged Google over YouTube. Back in 2013, Microsoft launched a YouTube app for Windows Phone. This app let users download videos and showed no ads. Google quickly blocked it, saying it broke their rules. It seems the two tech giants are heading for another showdown.
With Microsoft offering a key Premium feature for free, it begs the question: how will Google react this time? Will they take similar strong steps against Edge, or will they find a new way to keep users paying for those perks?