The Google Chrome Beta for Android version 54 has been rolled out and though there are several useful features included in this update there's one standout – the ability to run videos in the background.
Right now if you start playing a video in Google Chrome and switch apps not only does video playback stop, audio playback does too.
This is irritating when you're playing a video purely for the audio and would quite like to do something with your phone other than stare at a slowly crawling playback bar.
Oh, the multitasking possibilities
Fortunately Google has heard our annoyed cries and in the new beta it's now possible to play audio from a video, even if you switch to another app whilst it's playing. Now you can listen to that inspiring Ted Talk about habits of success whilst you scroll through Instagram.
If you do switch apps, a notification will pop up asking whether you'd like to resume media playback, providing play and pause controls for the audio, which will make it easy to exert basic control over what you're listening to without having to pull up the video again.
There's no guarantee that this feature will be included in the update when it's released, especially since background playback on mobile is a standout feature of YouTube's paid subscription service, YouTube Red.
Though this feature doesn't extend to the YouTube app, there is a chance the platform could object to this possible loophole.
If you'd like to test the feature out in beta for yourself you can find the – potentially buggy – download here.
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