User reports suggest that Twitter is adding a system-wide picture-in-picture (PiP) mode to its app for iPhone and iPad. A screen recording shared by the Twitter account iSoftware Updates reveals the Twitter PiP mode in action.
Picture-in-Picture mode allows users to shrink videos to a small window and continue watching them while doing other tasks on their devices. As shown in the screen recording spotted by Macrumors, it is possible to watch a Twitter video in a floating window on your iPhone.
But it seems Twitter is yet to finish the rollout process as the system-wide PiP support is not available to all users. However, Twitter already offers an in-app PiP mode that is available to all users and works inside the app.
Looks like Twitter videos now support the iOS system wide PiP.
— iSoftware Updates (@iSWUpdates) June 30, 2023
Note that it’s rolling out slowly, so it’s normal if some of you don’t have it yet pic.twitter.com/QeCrI670XA
Picture-in-Picture mode is available on various other apps such as YouTube, Netflix, and Apple TV. YouTube's PiP mode only works if you have its premium subscription. However, if you live in the US, you can use PiP mode with your free account, except for some content like music videos.
It remains to be seen whether Twitter's PiP mode will be available to all users or it will remain behind the Twitter Blue paywall that deprives free users of essential safety features like SMS-based two-factor authentication and encrypted DMs.
The social media company owned by Elon Musk has been putting more focus on video content lately. Its internal data suggests that vertical videos account for more than 10% of the time spent on Twitter. Recently, Elon Musk confirmed in a Twitter response that the company is working on a dedicated app to watch Twitter videos on smart TVs.
Last year, Twitter also joined the club of social media apps trying to mimic the fullscreen vertical video format popularized by TIkTok. The platform which once embraced the 140 characters limit now allows users to decorate their tweets with videos and GIFs.