If we open Facebook , we can see how our wall or news page is full of posts of photos, videos or links to news. In this sense, videos are the ones that have taken a greater role. We can make them be played automatically or have to click Play only on the ones we want to see, but perhaps the most interesting thing is that we can watch Facebook videos in a floating window while we continue to consult our wall or news page.
Undoubtedly, a very interesting function that those of Mark Zuckerberg added to the social network a while ago and which surely still many users may not have discovered. This feature works in the pure YouTube style , that is, we can play and view Facebook videos in a floating window and continue to consult the social network normally.
It is a really practical option, since we do not have to stop looking at the wall while a video is playing. That is why today we are going to tell you how you can take advantage of it.
Watch videos while still looking at the Facebook wall
It is a feature that is available both in the desktop version and in the mobile application of the social network, so we can enjoy it in either of the two situations. In this sense, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg has been intelligent and has not neglected either option, since they know perfectly well that there are many of its users who view their account from the computer.
Mobile version
To see a Facebook video in a floating window if we are on our mobile device, we are going to do the following:
- The first thing we have to do is enter the network and click on the Play of any of the videos that a publication contains.
- If we are using Facebook from the mobile app , we touch the video itself and certain controls will appear on the screen. At the bottom is the video progress scroll bar, in the upper right corner is the button to view it in full screen or save it and just on the opposite side, upper left corner , an icon with a square appears and inside it another smaller one in white.
- When tapping on this button, we see how the page where the video was playing is automatically closed, we return to our wall or news page and there we see a floating window in which the video continues to play while we can continue using Facebook.
- Tapping on the floating window and without releasing, we can drag it around the four corners of the screen to place it where it least interferes us at all times.
- To close it, just slide the floating window to the side, just like we do on YouTube.
Browser version
In the browser version, be it Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or another, we have to do even simpler and easier steps.
- We simply have to hover over the video once it has started to play.
- Then we have to touch on the same icon, but now it appears at the bottom of the video window along with the rest of the controls. Unlike with the mobile version, in the browser we will be able to move the floating window where the video is being played in the position we want and we can not only place it in one of the four corners of the screen.
Applications with access to PiP mode on mobile
The system that allows Facebook to place a video in a floating window while still being able to see the wall is called PiP (Picture in Picture) . This power is something that the latest versions of Android incorporate natively and that certain applications use to function. The truth is that it is very useful to have this window, since many times we want to watch a video, but not miss what is written in that application or we directly need to open another.
There are multiple applications that are compatible with this mode such as Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, Google Maps or Facebook itself, which we have already told you about.
Not all the applications of our mobile phone have compatibility with this mode , since its developers have not considered it necessary. If we want to know which are the apps that can offer us this option on our smartphone, we have it really easy and we will only have to perform a few simple steps within the phone itself.
It may be that at first you do not know where you have to look to know which apps are compatible with the floating window, but it is much easier than you can imagine. Follow these steps that we tell you right now:
- We go to the Settings menu of our mobile phone.
- Next we must enter the Applications section .
- Now we go back to Applications , again.
- Once inside, click on three vertical points that are in the upper right part of the screen.
- In the window that appears, we must search and click on Special Access .
- Now we are going to click on Image in Image (Image superimposed, in some case).
Then we will see a list of the applications that we have on our smartphone and that are compatible with the floating window system. Something you should know is that if an app appears on this list, it does not mean that it has PiP mode , since some only support it if we have a certain version of the operating system or it may not be enabled in our country, and is even compatible , but the developer has not yet implemented the function due to whatever circumstance.
In any case, if it is compatible with the PiP system, sooner or later it will have this function fully operational. It’s just a matter of time.
As you have been able to read, this floating window system is present on Facebook and is extremely practical, since we can watch a video while we are looking at our wall and we can even interact with it.
