No more complaining that Netflix is preventing you from being productive.
This week Netflix released support for Picture-in-Picture, a new multitasking feature for iPads running the latest version of iOS 9 that lets you minimize the screen so you can run other apps in the background. Picture-in-Picture was originally introduced with iOS 9 last year, but now you’ll need the latest iOS 9.3.2, as well as the Netflix iOS app version 8.7.0, in order to enable Picture-in-Picture.
The Netflix player does not have a button to activate Picture-in-Picture, but it will be enabled once you close the Netflix app. Additionally, 9to5Mac reported that this new multitasking feature does not work if you are running iOS 10 developer beta, which was just released on Monday at WWDC. Furthermore, iOS 9 Picture-in-Picture only works on compatible iPad models, the iPad Air or later, iPad mini 2 or later, and the iPad Pro line.
At WWDC, Apple also announced that Picture-in-Picture was coming to macOS Sierra, as well, if you use Safari or iTunes to watch videos. Here’s what Picture-in-Picture looks like on an iPad playing a video from iTunes.
Why this matters: Even though iOS 10 is here for developers, some third-party apps are still playing catchup to all the latest features Apple released last year with iOS 9. The fact that Netflix has released support for Picture-in-Picture this late in the game, and that Apple has announced that the multitasking feature is coming to macOS means that we should be seeing more widespread integration in the coming year.
Author: Oscar Raymundo, Staff Writer
Oscar writes about iOS, mobile culture and digital music. He also hosts 'The iPhone Show' from Macworld's San Francisco HQ.