Three Ways to Get Picture in Picture on Windows 10.
Picture-in-Picture has been a game changer since it first appeared on Android and was recently introduced in iOS 14. You can even use it to play YouTube videos in the background without a YouTube Premium subscription. Although, since I spend most of my time at my laptop, I do have a problem that I cannot use the same feature on Windows. So after doing a little research, here are three ways to get picture-in-picture on Windows 10.
Read How to Play YouTube in the Background on iPhone without YouTube Premium
Picture in picture on Windows 10
1. Windows Native PiP Mode
Although Windows introduced picture-in-picture mode, I still find its functionality very limited. Because at the moment you can only use it with the Movies & TV app. But I hope Microsoft will introduce this feature in other applications as well.
To turn on picture-in-picture mode in Windows 10, open the Movies & TV app and expand the window. Now select media from local storage or select a movie or TV show that you bought / rented from the Microsoft Store. You also have the option to right-click and click Open With to access any file in the Movies & TV app.
Now just select the Picture-in-Picture icon in the lower right corner of your screen. That’s it, you will now enter PiP mode. You can also drag the tab anywhere on the screen and expand it to a specific limit.
In addition to this, if you want to close the window at any time, you will have to expand it again or close it from the taskbar.
2. Image in Chrome Extension Image
While the Windows PiP feature is only limited to the Movies & TV app, it’s useless if you’re using YouTube, Netflix, which most of us do while working or multitasking on other projects. To solve this problem, users can install a Google Chrome extension called Picture in Picture. It is similar to Windows PiP and shows content in a floating window that is always on top of other tabs.
To use Picture-in-Picture in Chrome, download and install the extension. You will see a new PiP icon in the upper right corner of Chrome. Every time you watch a video or watch Netflix. Just click on the icon and the screen will automatically zoom out to PiP. As with the first option, you can drag it anywhere on the home screen. You also have the option to extend it, but don’t do it in extreme cases, because after a while the window just disappears under the taskbar and you have to start over.
Google Picture-in-Picture Chrome Extension
3. OnTopReplica – PiP application
Honestly, even the Chrome extension has limitations such as lack of support for regular tabs, limited video playback and infrequent crashes. This leads to a functional open source application OnTopReplica. This application allows you to select any window, regardless of video content, on top of all other windows. First, download the installation package and unzip it. Then follow the setup instructions and open it when you’re done. After the installation is complete, you will see an empty resizable window. Just right click and select the app you want to use in PiP mode.
Unlike Native or Chrome Extension, you can choose from all windows currently open on the system.
Also, when you right click, you get a lot of other options like Zoom in where you can select the part of the window to be displayed in PiP mode, you can set the opacity, lock the window position, add a border and even set a shortcut to show / hide or clone the current window, making it quick to use.
The best part is that you can enable mouse clicks so that you can use it like a normal window screen. This expands the utility’s capabilities as you can scroll, switch between tabs, and use any operation that you can perform in a full window in PiP mode. For example, I work on WordPress and keep YouTube in PiP mode. With the mouse on, I can play other videos and use the search function without going into full screen mode.
Get OnTopReplica
Concluding remarks
If you are the one using files in local storage, the native Windows 10 option will suffice in my opinion. Plus, you can simply install the Picture-in-Picture Chrome extension and you don’t need any additional apps for your day-to-day use. However, if you want better control and the ability to use your mouse in PiP mode and clone any open window on your laptop, OnTopReplica is the perfect choice. Well, I hope you try them all and increase your productivity (while watching YouTube). You can also follow our WWDC 2020 live coverage for iOS 14 updates and other Apple tips and tricks.
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