How to add Picture-in-Picture to video controls

François Beaufort
François Beaufort
GitHub

The modern way

The Picture-in-Picture (PiP) Web API allows websites to create a floating video window always on top of other windows so that users may continue consuming media while they interact with other content sites or applications on their device.

The example below shows you how to create a button that users can use to toggle Picture-in-Picture on a video.

togglePipButton.addEventListener("click", async (event) => {
  togglePipButton.disabled = true;
  try {
    if (video !== document.pictureInPictureElement) {
      await video.requestPictureInPicture();
    } else {
      await document.exitPictureInPicture();
    }
  } finally {
    togglePipButton.disabled = false;
  }
});

video.addEventListener("enterpictureinpicture", (event) => {
  togglePipButton.classList.add("on");
});

video.addEventListener("leavepictureinpicture", (event) => {
  togglePipButton.classList.remove("on");
});

/* Feature detection */
if ("pictureInPictureEnabled" in document) {
  // Set button ability depending on whether Picture-in-Picture can be used.
  setPipButton();
  video.addEventListener("loadedmetadata", setPipButton);
  video.addEventListener("emptied", setPipButton);
} else {
  // Hide button if Picture-in-Picture is not supported.
  togglePipButton.hidden = true;
}

function setPipButton() {
  togglePipButton.disabled =
    video.readyState === 0 ||
    !document.pictureInPictureEnabled ||
    video.disablePictureInPicture;
}

The classic way

Before the availability of the Picture-in-Picture Web API, there was no way to create a floating video window always on top of other windows. Playing the video on top of other elements on the web page is possible though with CSS.

The example below shows you how to display your video on top of other elements at the bottom right corner of your web page when the user clicks a button.

toggleFakePipButton.addEventListener("click", (event) => {
  video.classList.toggle("fake-pip");
});

/* Place the video in the bottom right corner on top of everything else via CSS. */
video.fake-pip {
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 1000;
  bottom: 10px;
  right: 10px;
}

Further reading

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <link
      rel="icon"
      href="data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 100 100%22><text y=%22.9em%22 font-size=%2290%22>📺</text></svg>"
    />
    <title>How to add Picture-in-Picture to video controls</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>How to add Picture-in-Picture to video controls</h1>
    <button id="togglePipButton">Picture-in-Picture</button>
    <button id="toggleFakePipButton">Fake Picture-in-Picture</button>
    <video autoplay muted playsinline loop src="https://storage.googleapis.com/media-session/caminandes/short.mp4"></video>
  </body>
</html>

CSS


        :root {
  color-scheme: dark light;
}
html {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}
*,
*:before,
*:after {
  box-sizing: inherit;
}
body {
  margin: 1rem;
  font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
}
button:before {
  content: "Enter ";
}
button.on:before {
  content: "Leave ";
}
video {
  display: block;
  margin-top: 10px;
  max-width: 100%;
}
video.fake-pip {
  position: fixed;
  z-index: 1000;
  bottom: 10px;
  right: 10px;
}

JS


        const video = document.querySelector('video');
const togglePipButton = document.querySelector('#togglePipButton');
const toggleFakePipButton = document.querySelector('#toggleFakePipButton');

togglePipButton.addEventListener("click", async (event) => {
  togglePipButton.disabled = true;
  try {
    if (video !== document.pictureInPictureElement) {
      await video.requestPictureInPicture();
    } else {
      await document.exitPictureInPicture();
    }
  } finally {
    togglePipButton.disabled = false;
  }
});

video.addEventListener("enterpictureinpicture", (event) => {
  togglePipButton.classList.add("on");
});

video.addEventListener("leavepictureinpicture", (event) => {
  togglePipButton.classList.remove("on");
});

/* Feature detection */
if ("pictureInPictureEnabled" in document) {
  // Hide fake PiP button if Picture-in-Picture is supported.
  toggleFakePipButton.hidden = true;
  // Set button ability depending on whether Picture-in-Picture can be used.
  setPipButton();
  video.addEventListener("loadedmetadata", setPipButton);
  video.addEventListener("emptied", setPipButton);
} else {
  // Hide button if Picture-in-Picture is not supported.
  togglePipButton.hidden = true;
}

function setPipButton() {
  togglePipButton.disabled =
    video.readyState === 0 ||
    !document.pictureInPictureEnabled ||
    video.disablePictureInPicture;
}

/* Fake Picture-in-Picture */
toggleFakePipButton.addEventListener("click", (event) => {
  toggleFakePipButton.classList.toggle("on");
  video.classList.toggle("fake-pip");
});