Yes, it is confirmed that Google started blocking the background playback of YouTube videos using mobile browsers like Brave, Vivaldi and many others that allowed it.

Google wanted to put its foot in the door and stop letting users find ways to use premium features for free on mobile browsers. I quote:

"Background playback is a feature meant to be exclusive to YouTube Premium members. Although some non-Premium users have previously been able to access this feature through mobile web browsers in certain situations, we have updated the experience to ensure consistency across all our platforms."

With this quote, Google encourages users to switch to YouTube Premium and at the same time stop looking for "more complicated alternatives", suggesting that the premium subscription would be "easy".

I mean, in short, they want people to sit in the app to see the hundreds of ads, hoping that maybe something else will fit in their pocket.

Is that a good approach? Yes. Can it change anything? Nope.

Why?

The answer is that users have been trying to find solutions to premium versions of apps since the internet was born, so you can't get users so easily used to switching to the "heavier" version.

According to users, Brave has already made an update and it works without problems playing in the background without YouTube Premium, which confuses Google a lot. But they had to be aware that this is what happened when they tried to remove the functionality of the adblockers, but look, Brave and Opera are doing it very well.

The Global Price Gap

And yet, until they think of other ways to stop those who use premium features for free, isn't it better to leave this obsession with money and make a general price that is in every country? Not for those in India to pay $20 a year and an American $13.99 a month.

I mean what happens, we pay more because more expensive ads are displayed? Do we have any function in addition to India or other countries, or do we have to comply as "patrons" dictate?

Honestly, no thanks! And they won't even change 10% of users to "good" for them, so they just work for nothing, that nothing will change.

And one more thing I have to say, and I'm sure of it: Brave or other browsers that put the user first will always find solutions so that we don't make money on an abuse of ads if you don't pay every month.

Information taken from: Android Authority