Easily stream almost any show or movie with friends with these 2 apps
According to NielsenStreaming accounts for about 38% of all TV usage, making it the most popular way to watch TV shows. Streaming watch parties make it easy to enjoy a show with a friend who lives miles away, or your significant other while they’re away on a business trip. Some services, like Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video, previously allowed people to host watch parties through their service, but those methods are no longer available. We’ll walk you through two ways you can host watch parties on those streaming services, plus many more.
It’s important to note that both methods require that you and the people in your watch party have access to the same streaming services. In other words, everyone must have access to a Netflix account for these to work — and that goes for other streaming services, too. It is possible to use shared accounts if you or someone else pays for it. Both methods also require that you and your friends and family use the same method in order for them to work.
Below, you’ll find out what you need to know about these methods and how to host viewing parties with others miles away.
Teleparty
You can use Teleparty with Disney Plus, Netflix, and many other streaming services.
Telepartyformerly known as Netflix Party, is a browser extension that works on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge And Opera browsers. It also has an app for Android devices at this moment in betaand the company says it is working on iOS and Apple capabilities.
Teleparty lets you host a watch party for up to 1,000 other people, and the free version lets you host watch parties for streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and more. There’s also a premium version (which $6.59 per month or $47.88 per year) that works with other services such as Apple TV Plus, Crunchyroll, and ESPN Plus.
Once you have downloaded the Teleparty extensions or apps from the links above, here is how you can host a watch party.
1Open a video in one of the supported streaming services.
2. Click on the TP icon in the toolbar.
3. Click Start the party.
4. A new page will open with the video and a shareable link. Copy and send the link to your friends and family in any way you like.
To join the viewing party, your invitees must open the link and then click the button. TP icon in the toolbar and they will be connected to the watchparty. Teleparty also has a group chat function, so people can share reactions to scenes or just chat while the show or movie is playing.
SharePlay
SharePlay lets you share your screen with other Apple devices, so you can watch shows and movies together with your friends, wherever you are.
Apple introduced SharePlay in 2021 with iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, and the feature lets Apple users share their screen with other people over FaceTime for watch parties. You could even use this method to stream something across two or more iPhones if no one in your friend group has a larger screen and you don’t all want to crowd around one phone.
SharePlay works with all of Apple’s own apps, like Apple TV and even Apple Music for listening parties. SharePlay also works with other streaming servicessuch as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney Plus. Some services like YouTube require you to upgrade to their premium membership to work with SharePlay, and Netflix doesn’t work on SharePlay at all.
For SharePlay to work, everyone in the Watch Party must have iOS 15.1 or later installed on their device.
Here’s how to use SharePlay to watch streaming services together.
1. Start a FaceTime call.
2Tap the icon in the top right corner of your screen that says Part and resembles a person standing in front of a screen.
3. In the new menu, tap Share my screen.
4Return to your Home screen without ending the FaceTime call.
5. Open any of the supported streaming services and start watching.
While the show is playing, you can still talk to your friends and family just like you would on a regular FaceTime call. If you’re watching a horror movie, you can collectively scream at the teens for splitting up in the dark woods.
For more information on streaming services, here are CNET’s picks for the best streaming services and devices that make it easy to stream with a VPN.
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