If you are a Xiaomi user, you will be disappointed to know that the company has removed a convenient feature on its Xiaomi phones. The feature initially allows YouTube videos to be played with the screen off and Google may have something to do with this.
The announcement was made on Xiaomi's Mi Fans Home Telegram page. Xiaomi had no choice "due to compliance requirements" so the "play video sound with screen off" function in the video toolbox feature as well as the "turn off screen" function in the game toolbox feature got removed. So if you can't find those anymore, it's not a malfunction but a removal.
Xiaomi also listed the phones affected by the removal of the function which you can see in the screenshot above. All Xiaomi devices running from MIUI 12 to MIUI 14 as well as Xiaomi's latest HyperOS on the Xiaomi 14 series are included. You may check out the screenshot above for your reference.
While Xiaomi didn't specifically say it, we think Google has something to do with this. After all, being able to play a YouTube video in the background and when exiting the app is part of the YouTube Premium features for members. Google is also Xiaomi's partner for providing Google Mobile Services so that's not to be tampered with.
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