Watching YouTube videos on your iPhone can be a great way to pass the time, but sometimes you need to quickly minimize the video and move on to something else. Whether you need to take an urgent phone call, switch apps, or just take a quick break, minimizing YouTube videos quickly and easily on your iPhone can help.
We’ll go over the best methods for minimizing YouTube videos when multitasking on your iPhone, as well as tips for making it even easier. We’ll also check out some of the best alternatives to minimize YouTube when needed.

Why Minimizing YouTube Is Important
Minimizing YouTube on your iPhone is an important step that can help maximize your phone’s battery life and reduce distractions. By minimizing the YouTube app, you can quickly access videos without having to search for them, which not only saves you time but also helps keep your device running as smoothly as possible. Additionally, it allows you to multitask more efficiently, since you can easily jump back into a video without having to manually scroll through an endless list of search results.
Plus, it’s far easier to manage notifications with the minimized version of YouTube on iPhone. Without the need to worry about interruption notifications, you can stay focused on the task at hand and prevent yourself from being overwhelmed by too many pop-ups on your screen.
Understand the YouTube Controls
The YouTube app on your iPhone has some basic controls that you need to understand to minimize quickly. Here are the basics:
- The Home tab at the bottom of the screen displays your library of videos. Tap it to view a list of all the videos you’ve watched and those that are suggested for you.
- The Search tab at the top right of the screen will allow you to search for specific videos or channels.
- The Menu tab in the top left allows you to access settings and other features like viewing history and playlists.
- The Play/Pause button serves as your way to start, stop, and pause a video.
- The Skip/Rewind buttons allow you to move through a video quickly—tap once or hold down on either button to speed up or slow down your playback speed.
- And lastly, tapping Video Settings will bring up options like quality, resolution, and auto-play preferences that can be adjusted according to your preference.
Understanding each of these controls will help you navigate YouTube more easily and get the most out of it when it comes time to minimize quickly on your iPhone!
How to Pause Videos
Pausing a YouTube video on your iPhone can help free up phone space and improve your entertainment experience. Fortunately, pausing a video on your device is a relatively simple process.
If the video you are watching is interactive and has controls that you can access, such as pausing or adjusting the volume, you will be able to pause the video directly from the video player itself. All you need to do is tap the pause icon at the bottom of the screen.
If the video does not have any interactive controls, you can still easily pause it by tapping on your device’s home button. This will minimize YouTube and pause whatever video you were watching. To resume playing the video, simply open YouTube again and tap on the paused video to continue watching it where you left off.
Quickly Minimize YouTube With the Home Button
If you’re in a hurry and need to get back to your home screen quickly, the Home button can help—here’s how it works.
Press and hold the Home button for about one second. This will minimize the YouTube app and take you back to your home screen. When you’re finished with whatever you needed to do on your device, simply re-open YouTube from the same spot on your Home screen where you found it before.
You can also double-click the Home button to access the App Switcher and select YouTube from there. From there, use your finger to swipe up on YouTube’s preview window to close it out completely.
Finally, if you’re watching a video in full-screen mode and want to return to the main YouTube page, tap the screen once and then tap the arrow in the top left corner of the page twice—this will take you back to your homepage.
Access Youtube Widgets
When it comes to minimizing YouTube quickly on iPhone, one of the most helpful tools is the YouTube widget. This easily-accessible widget can be accessed from your iPhone’s Today View screen, giving you quick access to all your favorite YouTube videos at any time.
Here’s how to locate and use the YouTube widget:
- Swipe right from your home screen to display your Today View screen
- Scroll to the bottom until you find the ‘Edit’ option
- When the list appears, look for the ‘YouTube’ icon and tap on it
- Tap ‘Done’ in the upper right corner once YouTube appears in your list of widgets
- Once this is done, you can now access everything you need from your Today View screen
- Simply tap on the YouTube widget to open it up and select whatever video you’d like – no need to open up the full app!
- When you’re finished watching, simply press twice on your iPhone’s home button and the app will minimize quickly so you can get back to what matters most.
By utilizing this helpful tool, not only will you be able to save time when accessing YouTube videos on-the-go, but also minimize quickly when finished with a video without having to search for where you left off in your day-to-day activities.
How to Turn Off Autoplay on YouTube
If you hate the idea of YouTube autoplay eating up your data and battery life, know that there are ways to easily turn it off. To minimize YouTube quickly on your iPhone, here’s what you should do:
- Open the YouTube app and locate the profile icon in the top right corner.
- Select the ‘Settings’ option from the menu.
- Tap on ‘Autoplay’ and toggle the switch to off.
- Done! Autoplay for videos will now be disabled on your device.
Alternatively, if you want granular control over when autoplay activates, you can also choose from three other settings: ‘On’, ‘Wi-Fi Only’ and ‘Off’. The latter two settings are self-explanatory; switching to ‘On’ will enable autoplay for both Wi-Fi and mobile data networks alike.
Once you adjust your autoplay preferences to suit your needs, you can now save data, time, and battery power when watching videos on YouTube without worrying about autoplay getting in the way!