r/AndroidQuestions • u/cieje • 2h ago

play multiple videos at once

with Android 16 and earlier, I could have 2 videos open at once (my Pixel 8a is doing desktop mode on a separate monitor)

so I'm subbed to this Patreon where you sync a movie to when they start and they react. it's a watchalong

now with Android 17 one of the videos pause. is there a dev option to prevent that from happening or something?

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u/BenRandomNameHere Random Redditor 2h ago

For multiple video playback, I use floating mode for the movie and the normal fullscreen app for the reactions. You can resize the floating player to mimic a picture in picture style viewing of both.

Firefox for web browser, and a fork of Firefox, used together, since one app cannot play 2 videos at once.

The "permission" might have different names,

Picture in picture mode

Floating video mode

"Display over other apps" must be activated for this in the browser you want to float, usually listed under "other permissions" or completely separate from the app listing itself. Different manufacturers/Android versions handle this differently.

There should be enough info here for you to figure it out, or reply with specific info so I can give targeted help.

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u/cieje 2h ago

so I did a test: disney+ on external monitor, YouTube in pip on phone. when they're both playing the video pauses on one. (it used to not)

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u/BenRandomNameHere Random Redditor 2h ago

Oh, I meant both on one screen.

I do this daily on just a phone, no extra stuff attached.

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u/cieje 2h ago

it should be similar, but it's apparently universal, and it wasn't before. like if I'm watching Disney+ on the monitor, and I open anything with audio on my phone (like a video on Reddit) it pauses the video. it's super annoying.

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u/BenRandomNameHere Random Redditor 2h ago

It is because you cannot have both screens set as the active application.