The Floating Distraction
By default, iOS utilizes a feature called “Picture in Picture” (PiP). If you are watching a YouTube video or a Twitch stream in full screen and suddenly swipe up to go back to your home screen, the iPhone does not pause the video. Instead, it shrinks the video down into a small, floating rectangle that covers your home screen icons and continues playing while you attempt to open other apps. While excellent for multitasking, it is highly disruptive if you actually just wanted to close the video app and return to a clean home screen. You must stop the video player from automatically detaching.
How to Turn Off Automatic Picture in Picture
You can permanently force video apps to pause and close when swiping away via the General settings.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on General.
- Locate and tap on Picture in Picture.
- Locate the master toggle switch labeled Start PiP Automatically.
- Toggle this switch to the Off position (the green background will disappear).
Strict Video Termination
The change takes effect instantly. The iPhone will completely sever the automatic handoff between the full-screen video player and the floating widget engine. Now, if you are watching a video and swipe up to return to your home screen, the video will instantly pause, and the application will cleanly close into the background. Your home screen will remain completely unobstructed. You can still manually trigger PiP if you want by tapping the specific PiP icon inside the video player before swiping.