Mozilla has confirmed Picture-in-Picture for Video is coming to Windows with Firefox 71, meanwhile, the company is working to bring the feature to Firefox users on macOS and Linux as it is not available by default in development versions, the organization today has enabled PiP mode by default in Firefox 72 Nightly on these platforms.
What is Picture in Picture mode for Video?
The feature which you’ve already seen on mobile and Televisions and in Chrome and Chromium browsers is now available in beta and Nightly versions of Firefox on Windows. The feature when activated, shows video playing in the browser, in a mini window that always stays on top of other applications. Mozilla Firefox also offers a keyboard shortcut for PiP on the Windows version, it is “Ctrl+Shift+ ]”.
Do note, Firefox’s implementation of Picture in Picture mode is a browser UI, but not based on Web API which Chrome relies on for the feature.
The feature can be controlled with below preferences in about:configmedia.media.
The company hasn’t enabled the Picture-in-Picture on Mac and Linux as it hasnt’ reached the level Mozilla expected, now it is turned on in Firefox Nightly on these platforms, including Windows. Mozilla to ship PiP for Windows Firefox with version 71.
To try the Firefox Picture-in-Picture on Mac or Linux
1. Ensure you’re using the latest version
2. Visit YouTube
3. Play any video, right-click on it two times and select the “Picture-in-Picture” option or click a small blue rectangle aka PiP toggle button that appears when you hover over the video.
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