You're stuck on a boring conference call. Or maybe you're catching up with a friend who just won't stop talking about their cat's new diet. You want to scroll TikTok or finish that YouTube video about the history of Roman concrete. But the moment you hit play, the audio cuts out, the person on the other end starts sounding like a robot, or worse, your phone just decides to pause the video entirely because it thinks you’re "busy." It’s annoying. Seriously.
The truth is that learning how to watch videos while on call is actually a battle against how operating systems prioritize audio. Modern smartphones are designed to think that a phone call is the single most important thing happening. Everything else—your Netflix binge, your Twitch stream, your Spotify playlist—gets shoved to the back of the line. But with a few workarounds, you can actually multitask without the audio turning into a garbled mess.
The Picture-in-Picture (PiP) problem and why it fails
Most people think Picture-in-Picture is the silver bullet. You swipe up, the video shrinks into a little floating window, and you think you're golden. Except, it often doesn't work that way during a live call. If you’re on Discord, FaceTime, or Zoom, the app might fight for control over the "camera" or "audio output" layers.
On iOS, for instance, Apple is incredibly strict. If you are on a FaceTime call and try to open YouTube, the PiP might trigger, but the audio will likely dim the video to a whisper. This is called "Audio Ducking." The system literally ducks the volume of background apps so the voice call stays clear. To get around this, you usually need to tweak the specific settings within the app you’re using, rather than the phone's general settings. On Android, you have a bit more freedom, especially if you’re using a device like a Samsung Galaxy with its "Sound Assistant" features.
Android's secret weapon: Multi-sound support
If you're an Android user, specifically on a Samsung device, you've basically won the lottery for this specific problem. There is an app in the Galaxy Store called Good Lock, and inside it, a module called Sound Assistant.
This isn't some weird third-party hack; it's made by Samsung. Once you have it, you can toggle a setting called "Multi-sound." This allows you to pick an app—say, YouTube or Chrome—and tell the phone, "Hey, never mute this, even if I'm on a call." It’s a game-changer. You can literally have a Google Meet going in one ear and a movie playing in the other, with both at full volume. Most people don't even know this exists. They just suffer in silence. Or, well, they suffer in the silence of their background video.
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For non-Samsung Android users, the struggle is real. You’re often at the mercy of the app developers. Apps like VLC Media Player have a "Play as Audio" or "Background Play" mode that tends to be more resilient during calls than the native YouTube app.
The iPhone struggle: How to watch videos while on call without it pausing
iOS is a walled garden, and that garden has very loud guards. To watch videos while on an iPhone call, you usually have to trick the phone.
- Use the Browser, Not the App: If you try to watch a video in the YouTube app while on a call, it will almost certainly pause or glitch. If you open Safari, go to the website, and play it there, you can often bypass the app-specific "pause on interrupt" command.
- Control Center Hack: Start your call. Open your video. If it pauses, swipe down to your Control Center. You’ll see the media player widget. Hit play from there. Sometimes the system-level "Play" command overrides the app's "Pause" command.
- The Telegram Loophole: Weirdly enough, Telegram’s internal video player is incredibly robust. If you send yourself a video link in "Saved Messages" and play it through Telegram's PiP, it often stays active even when you jump into a cellular or FaceTime call.
Why your Bluetooth headphones are actually the enemy
Bluetooth is a "one-way-at-a-time" street for high-quality audio. When you enter a call, your headphones switch from A2DP (high-quality stereo) to HFP (Hands-Free Profile). HFP is garbage for video. It’s mono, it’s low bitrate, and it sounds like a tin can.
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This is why your video audio sounds like a nightmare the moment the call starts. To fix this, you either need to use the phone's built-in speakers (which don't have to switch profiles) or use wired headphones. Wired headphones don't have "profiles." They just play whatever electrical signal the phone sends. If you’re serious about how to watch videos while on call, plug in some old-school buds. You’ll notice the audio quality of the video doesn't drop off a cliff the second the other person says "Hello?"
Discord and the "Stream" workaround
If you’re on a PC or Mac, this is trivial. But on mobile, Discord can be a pain. If you’re in a voice channel and want to watch something, the "Watch Together" feature is the intended way, but it limits you to specific platforms.
The "pro" move here is using a secondary device. Honestly. Sometimes the tech isn't there yet. Using a tablet for the video and your phone for the call is the only way to ensure 100% stability. But if you must stay on one device, ensure "OpenSL ES" is disabled in your Discord voice settings (on Android), as this can sometimes cause audio conflicts with media players.
The Social Etiquette and "The Mute Button"
Let’s be real for a second. If you’re watching a video on a call, you better be on mute.
Microphones are sensitive. If you’re watching a movie, the person on the other end is going to hear the explosions, the music, or the dialogue. Even if you have noise cancellation, the "ducking" effect we talked about earlier works both ways. If your phone hears audio coming from its own speakers, it might try to cancel it out, which ends up canceling out your voice too. You'll sound like you're underwater.
Actionable Steps for a Seamless Experience
To truly master this, you need to prepare before the call starts.
- Check your bandwidth: Watching a 4K video while on a high-definition video call is a recipe for a crashed app. Drop the video quality to 720p or 480p. Your phone’s processor will thank you.
- Disable "Attention Aware" features: On iPhones, the phone might dim the screen or change volume if it thinks you aren't looking at it. Turn this off in FaceID & Attention settings.
- Use the Web Version: Whenever possible, use the mobile browser (Chrome/Safari) rather than the dedicated app for the video. Browsers have less "authority" over the system and are less likely to force a hard pause on the audio stream.
- Samsung Users: Download Good Lock right now. Go to Sound Assistant. Turn on "Multi-sound" for "All Apps." You are now a multitasking god.
- Wired is King: If you want the video to sound good, ditch the AirPods and use a dongle with wired headphones.
Experiment with these combinations. Every OS update changes how "audio focus" works. One day, a simple swipe works; the next, you’re digging through developer options. But by understanding that the phone is just trying to prioritize the "human" voice, you can find the gaps in the code to keep your entertainment running.