While it feels like Google Messages gains new features almost every other day, there are occasions when the app loses a feature or two. One such feature was the messaging app’s ability to open YouTube videos in a picture-in-picture (PiP) window within the chat.
Although the feature was removed back in August of last year, we learned about a potential revival of the capability this March. It has taken some time, but it now looks like Google Messages is slowly rolling out support for YouTube PiP, starting with users of the app’s beta version.
Android Authority was notified of this change by one of their readers on X/Twitter, while I’m currently seeing this feature in Google Messages version 20251031_01_RC00 beta, suggesting that a wider rollout is not far away. This is one of those features that not many people may have used, but it’s good to have on the off chance that someone sends you a YouTube video on Google’s messaging app.
A feature you probably didn’t know was gone
Since the removal last August, opening a YouTube video in Google Messages redirected users to the app (if installed) or the default web browser. That limitation can be particularly annoying, especially if you’d like the video to continue playing as you scroll through your chats rather than switching back and forth.
One peculiar behavior I noticed with this re-released feature is that tapping the video preview in the chat opens a PiP window, whereas tapping the link itself redirects users to the installed app. It’s unclear if this is intended behavior, though we imagine it could be irritating when you accidentally tap the link instead of the preview.
Meanwhile, picture-in-picture doesn’t appear to work when you leave Google Messages, even if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber. Customers with a Premium subscription were previously able to access PiP in Google Messages, although it required opening a YouTube video and switching to Messages. However, this updated solution makes it accessible to everyone with minimal effort.
As Android Authority notes, the framework for this YouTube PiP feature in Messages is built into the app, meaning it can function even if you don’t have YouTube on your device. There are minimal controls available when the PiP window is in its smallest form, but enlarging the player provides access to some additional YouTube controls.
Although we’ve seen this feature in the latest Google Messages beta, its visibility may be limited right now. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t take long for Google to slowly roll it out to more users, including those on the stable version of the messaging app. News of this change comes just as we learned that Google Messages is upping its pinned chats limit, so it’s been a busy 24 hours or so.
