How to Watch TV Together Long Distance
Watching tv together long distance has become easier than ever before thanks to a variety of apps and software. These services allow you to chat with your friends in a chatroom on the edge of the screen while you watch.
One popular tool is Teleparty, which synchronizes your videos and creates a group chat for streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. It’s free and easy to use.
1. FaceTime
FaceTime is a video-calling app from Apple that's available on iOS devices and Mac computers. It lets you chat and share photos with other users on the same network, and it offers a range of features for making the most of calls.
Among its most interesting new features is SharePlay, which allows you to watch movies and TV together while on a FaceTime call. It's a great way to spend time with friends and family, especially when you're far apart.
To use SharePlay, you need a compatible device (iOS 15 or later) and a subscription to the app that you want to watch with your friends. Some popular apps that support the feature include Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, TikTok, and ESPN Plus.
The first step is to create a FaceTime call with the person you want to watch together. To do this, launch the FaceTime app and tap Create Link. Then, give the chat a name and choose who you want to share it with.
Once you've done this, invite the Android user to join the call by tapping a check mark next to their name. This will allow them to see your screen and listen to your voice over a data network, although FaceTime doesn't eat up much data.
Once you've added the people you want to watch together, it's time for the fun part. Sharing videos and music is a simple process that works with most of the popular video streaming apps. Using SharePlay is free, but you'll need to make sure your friend has the latest version of iOS and a subscription to the service you're watching with them.
2. Plex
Plex is a great way to organize your media files and stream them on any device. It's also an excellent way to share your content with friends and family members without having to upload it to a third-party cloud service.
Once you've set up Plex, you can easily create playlists to save your favorite TV shows and movies for quick access. You can also rename your files using Plex-preferred naming conventions, which will help the server find them easier.
Another cool feature you can use is Watch Together, which allows you to share a video or movie with up to three other people. Just select the (More) button on a video's pre-play screen and choose Watch Together.
You can invite your friends to join your Watch Together session by sending them a friend request. Before you can do that, you'll need to make sure they already have Plex installed on their devices.
If you're interested in sharing your media with more than one person, Plex offers a subscription plan called Plex Pass, which gives you access to all of its client apps for a low monthly or annual fee. The subscription lets you stream your media to multiple devices, add custom ad-free playback filters, and customize the interface to fit your personal preferences.
In addition to streaming your media, Plex can also be used to manage your home network. It works with a wide range of routers and switches, and can be configured to automatically connect to specific networks.
Plex's Watch Together feature is currently available in beta, and the company hasn't put any sort of cap on how many users can participate in a session. However, it's a good idea to only add as many people as you can handle, as adding too many users could cause problems.
3. Hulu Watch Party
Hulu Watch Party is a new feature that allows you to watch TV shows and movies with a group of people over the internet. It works by synchronizing playback so that everyone in the group can talk to each other while watching.
You can use it to watch thousands of titles on Hulu. However, you will have to check whether a show is eligible for Watch Party through its Details page.
A new Hulu Watch Party button will appear on the details pages of eligible shows and movies. It will also let you host a party, which means you can invite up to seven other users to join and watch the video together.
It's important to note that this feature only works on a web browser. It doesn't work on mobile apps, or smart TVs, but it's available to any subscriber over 18 years old with a Hulu account.
In addition, Watch Party only works with ad-free subscriptions. If your Hulu subscription includes ads, you can't start or join a Watch Party.
Another big drawback to Watch Party is that it doesn't always sync with the actual video. This can lead to frustrating delays, especially if you're watching several episodes of a show at once.
Despite these limitations, Hulu's Watch Party is a great way to watch TV with friends remotely. It's also easy to host and use, and it's free for anyone with a Hulu subscription.
4. Teleparty
Teleparty is a Chrome browser extension that lets you synchronously stream Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Now content with your friends long distance. You can create a party URL to share with up to 1,000 people, but only those who have the Teleparty extension installed can join it.
Teleparty works with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera web browsers to sync playback of a film or TV show in real time for up to 10 members. It also offers a chat box that lets group members chat in the app at approximate times during the movie or show, so they won't miss any of the action.
To use Teleparty, you must install the Teleparty extension on your internet browser and then sign in to a subscribed streaming service. Once you've done that, you can search for a film or TV show on that streaming service to watch together long distance.
Once you've chosen the film or show to watch, you must click on the Teleparty NP logo in the top right of your browser. After that, you'll be prompted to 'Start a Teleparty'.
Next, you'll receive a 'Watch Party Invitation Link' or URL that you can copy and send to everyone you want to join the party. Once everyone has this URL, you can watch and chat together in real time.
Teleparty was originally designed to allow Netflix users to synchronize their viewing sessions with each other, but it's now compatible with all major streaming services. It's free to use so long as you have a subscription to one of the services it supports. You can even set limits on who can join a Teleparty so that only certain individuals are allowed to watch movies or shows together.
5. Kast
Kast is a free video sharing app that allows you to watch a wide selection of movies, TV shows, and games with friends. The service also features screensharing, voice, text, and video chat. It is available across all platforms, including Google Chrome and Edge, desktop applications for PC and Mac, and mobile versions of the app for iOS and Android.
The first step is to create an account and set up a watch party. Then, invite friends to join the session by clicking a link that Kast sends out. Once all the people are in, click the TV icon to pick your streaming platform and start watching together.
There are some nifty features on Kast that make it worth checking out, including their curated content library and the ability to sync your browser, screen, or camera with movies and other media. It also has a free-to-use Base plan that lets you stream videos from Tubi and YouTube, as well as a paid Premium plan that removes ads and offers HD streaming and Picture-in-Picture.
In addition, you can host watch parties and invite up to 100 guests to join. To do so, you’ll need to sign up for a Kast account and enable your screen sharing mode.
Kast’s curated content library is great for movie night, but it’s also a great way to catch up with friends. You can choose a selection of films or use the search feature to find what you’re looking for.
One of the best aspects of Kast is that it supports multiple platforms and browsers, which can be helpful for international friend groups who have different streaming services in their countries. You can also have up to four screens up at once and switch between them as often as you want, making it easy to share a movie with your partner in another country.
