Background/PiP mode (Picture-in-Picture) Mode or Pop-Up Video in VLC for Android

Android has a Picture in Picture or Pop-up Player mode and you can see apps like YouTube use it in full effect. What this means is that you have videos playing right on the screen when you’re browsing other contents of the app itself or your phone. It allows you to stay in your media while doing other things. VLC for Android has a Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode as well. It works quite well. You play a video and you can pull it down to the bottom-right corner of the screen. It only takes a minimum screen area.

Once the video is minimized to the bottom-right, you can use VLC and browse for other media or go in other areas like the settings section in the app. Additionally, you can stop using VLC and still use your phone like go to your home screen, bring up the app drawer or even open another app. All this while the video is playing in the bottom corner. This is multitasking with a media playing.

To use the background or picture in picture (PiP) mode in VLC, you just need to use a button present on the interface. Here is how you do that:

• Open up a video
• Tap on the screen
• Click on the options button (three dots)
• Tap on Pop-Up Player
  
• The video will play in PiP mode

Now, VLC’s player will be in the background. If you press the home button, your home screen will open with the video still playing. Use your phone normally. You can open other apps freely.

There are additional settings to help you control the behavior of the minimized or background video. These options are applicable when you switch to other apps. You can opt to stop the video, play it hidden in the background or show it in the screen’s corner.

Here’s how you configure PiP:

• Click on the ☰ Menu
• Go to Settings
• Tap on Background/PiP mode under Video
• There are three options:
  • Stop: Does the obvious. The player terminates.
  • Play videos in background: The player hides but you can hear the video playing.
  • Play videos in Picture-in-picture mode: A smaller player will activate on the corner of the screen
    

A final option is there which supposedly allows us to resize the pop up player. It is available under ☰ > Video > Use custom Picture-in-Picture popup. Like the description says, it allows us to have a resizable popup.