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YouTube's miniplayer arrives to keep you watching while browsing

You can even take control of playlists.

In March, YouTube began testing two video multi-tasking desktop features that served the same function: to help you browse while watching. It was clear then that a miniplayer was on the way. And seven months after the strictly limited A/B trials, YouTube is opting to bring picture-in-picture (PiP) playback to more users, according to 9to5 Google, which spotted it on Safari for Mac and Chrome OS while logged in and in Incognito mode. The majority of Engadget's European staff are seeing it too.

A new "Miniplayer" icon has been added at the bottom-right corner of video tools on YouTube.com. Clicking it will shrink and slot the video in that spot with its window displaying the title and publisher, while also marking playlists. Hover over it and you'll see a play button and the option to jump backwards and forwards in a playlist, with the seek bar inserted at the bottom of the video. Fire up a playlist and a chevron in the bottom-right corner lets you view a list of what's upcoming with the ability to jump around. There's also extra controls for repeat and shuffle for music playlists.

Starting up the miniplayer will take you to your last visited page. Or, if you visit a video directly, PiP will take you to the YouTube home page. Meanwhile, the close button in the upper-right corner will exit you out of the minimized window. Clicking on the window itself, however, will take take you to the full video page, while a right-click opens an options menu.