Described herein is a method for managing media item playback. A method includes presenting a media player playing a media item in a first portion of a user interface (UI) provided by a first application on a screen of a user device, responsive to a first user input, reducing a size of the media player playing the media item to allow a user to open a second mobile application, causing playback of the media item to be continued in the media player of the reduced size while content associated with the second application is being presented to the user on the screen of the user device, and responsive to a second user input, restoring the size of the media player while the media player continues to play the media item.