In the wake of the Coronavirus, almost everything, from working to socializing, has moved online. One of the key aspects of our social life is watching movies together but with the ‘stay at home’ order in place, the proposition seems a distant future. But worry not, you can still watch movies together with friends online. There are web services that allow you to invite your friends and watch movies in complete sync with each other. You can video chat, send messages, and interact all the while watching a movie. Isn’t that awesome? So in this article, we bring you a comprehensive guide on how to watch movies together with friends online. We have mentioned services that are compatible with YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and more. With that in mind, let’s now move ahead and learn how to watch movies with friends online in 2023.
1. Metastream
Metastream allows you to watch movies together with friends and family online in complete sync and with a chat option. You don’t need to create an account or go through a complex setup process. And the best part about Metastream is that it supports a long list of online streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and more. Apart from that, Metastream is entirely free so that is awesome. However, keep in mind, it does not support webcam and audio chat.
1. Download the Metastream extension for Chrome or Firefox.
2. After that, open Metastream’s portal and pick a display name. Next, click on “Get Started“.
3. On the next page, click “Start Session“.
4. Here, click on “Add Media“.
5. Finally, you can paste any video link from the internet, be it a movie or a TV show. After that, click on “Add to Session”.
6. Instantly, media playback will start on your computer. Now to share the stream with your friends, click on the “Invite” button on the “Users” window.
7. copy the link and share it with your friends afterward. Once your friends open the link on their computers, you will receive a notification to approve the request. Click on the green icon on the same “Users” window and your friends will join the stream immediately.
8. To chat with your friends, click on the 3-dot icon and open “Chat”. The chatbox will appear on the left side of the screen.
9. Apart from that, you can also click on the “+” button to add movies and shows in a queue.
10. From now onwards, you don’t have to open Metastream’s portal manually. Whenever you are playing a video on Netflix or any other streaming site, just click on the “Metastream” extension on the toolbar and the media playback will move to Metastream. From there, you can share the stream with your friends.
2. Teleparty
As the name suggests, Teleparty is another popular way to watch Netflix movies and TV series together with friends and family. It offers seamless playback sync and a chatbox for interaction with friends, but keep in mind, there is no webcam or audio chat. Also, the service is totally free to use. Having said that, all the participants will need a separate Netflix subscription to join the party. Now they have updated to enable Teleparty to support prime video, Disney +, Hulu, and many more OTT services all under one place.
1. Download the Teleparty extension for Chrome by clicking here.
2. Now, open Netflix and play your favorite movie or show. After that, click on the “TP” extension on the toolbar
3. Click on “Start Party”. You can enable the “Only I have control” checkbox to restrict playback controls to yourself.
4. Now you’ll be asked to grant permissions to the extension to start your watch party. Just click allow and you’ll be done with it.
5. Now repeat the first 3 steps again, you can enter into the watch party without any issues. Just copy the link available there and send it to your friend so that they can join and start your fun time together.
3. Scener
Scener is another platform for watching Netflix movies and shows together with friends online. However, the best part of Scener is that it allows webcam and audio chat as well. Basically, you can video chat simultaneously while watching movies together online. Here is how you can get it.
1. Download the Scener extension for Chrome.
2. After that, you will be automatically redirected to Scener’s website. Here, create your free Scener account.
3. Now, sign into Netflix and open the Scener extension from the toolbar. It will open a separate window on the left side. Here, click on “Create Private Theater”.
4. After that, click on “Next” and further choose “Yes” to enable the webcam.
5. Scener will offer you a link. Copy that and share it with your friends.
6. Now, your friends need to log in to their Netflix account first and then open the Scener link. After that, they will join the stream immediately. You can now watch Netflix movies and shows together with video chat support.
4. Syncplay
Syncplay is for those users who want to watch downloaded movies with friends online. The playback syncing is seamless and the app is completely free given that it’s an open-source program. Apart from that, Syncplay is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux so that is great. However, keep in mind, all the participants need to download the same movie file on their computer. Further, the setup process is a bit complex so if you don’t have the expertise, you can go for the web solutions mentioned above.
Note: The below process applies to all the participants.
1. Download Syncplay (Free) and your choice of media player. Syncplay is compatible with VLC, mpv, MPC-HC, and more.
2. After the installation, open Syncplay and choose any server address from the drop-down menu. After that, give a name to your room and make a note of it. Next, click on “Browse” and choose the media player’s EXE file from the C drive. For example, here I have chosen VLC. Now, click on “Store configuration and run sync play”.
3. After that, both Syncplay and VLC will open up automatically. On the Syncplay window, click on “File” and select “Open Media File“.
4. Here, choose the video file and open it. VLC will instantly load the file. After that, click on the “I’m ready to watch” checkbox.
5. Now, to bring all your friends together, share the room name of one participant with everyone else. Further, enter the exact name in the room field and hit the “Join room” button. Finally, everyone will appear in the User window above. If they enable the “I’m ready to watch” checkbox, the icon will turn green.
6. Finally, play the movie on VLC and it will start playing on all your friends’ computers. You can play, pause, fast forward and it will reflect on everyone’s computer. You can also use Syncplay’s notification window to send messages to your friends. So that is how you can watch downloaded movies together online.
5. Rave
Rave is another amazing site to hang out with your friends and watch your favorite content online. Rave covers all the OTT giants as well as free sites like Youtube, Vimeo, etc. Rave is available on all the platforms so you don’t have to worry about compatibility. You can connect with your friends very easily and only voice call is available here.
1. Head over to the rave’s official site and click the platform you would regularly use to download the app.
2. Once the application is installed, sign in using any one of your social media accounts to create a new account in Rave.
3, Right after you sign in, select a cool avatar you like and enter the username and handle you want. You’re good to go to the next step now.
4. That’s it your rave account has been successfully created and you need to connect the OTT service which you want to watch party with your friends. In this demo, I’ll select Netflix from the list of OTT options available.
5. Just enter your Netflix credentials and you’re almost done.
6. Now after you reach the homepage of Netflix, just select the movie/show you want to watch and hold it down. Invite your friend if he has a rave account already ready or ask them to repeat the above steps and create an account. Just share the link to let them join your party and enjoy!
6. Amazon Prime Video Watch Party
Well if you don’t trust third-party apps and sites for watch parties, Amazon has come to the rescue. Now you can officially conduct a watch party with your Prime video account with up to 100 people and not worry about anything. It is very simple to use and here is how it goes:
1. Head over to your Prime Video and click any movie/show you want to watch with your friends. You can notice a watch party icon next to download, just click it once.
2. You can now start the watch party but before that just enter the name you want to display and click Create Watch Party.
3. Now you’ve successfully hosted the watch party, it’s time for you to invite your friends and kick-start your watch party.
7. Discord
How could anyone not talk about Discord when it comes to having a fun time with friends? Be it through the pandemic or now, Discord has been a lifesaver of an application for millions across the globe. It allowed folks to stay connected through thick and thin and have a good time. Of course, Discord is known for its gaming-centric interface and services. However, did you know that you could also use Discord’s internal YouTube Activity integration to, like you guessed, watch YouTube videos with friends?
Now, you may be wondering how can one watch movies together with friends online on YouTube. There are actually quite a few legal channels and playlists that will come in handy to watch full-length movies on YouTube. So, if you are unaware, here’s how to easily watch movies together with friends on Discord:
1. Either open the Discord browser version or the desktop/mobile app. We are using the desktop web version here.
2. Then, sign in to your account.
3. Once you do, on the left panel under the Direct Messages list, spot the friend that you want to watch a movie with on Discord.
4. Now, at the very top, you will see the voice call and video call options. Click on your preferred choice.
5. When on the call, you will see the Discord Activity button. Click on it.
6. You will then see a Suggested Activities window pop up.
7. From here, select YouTube.
8. YouTube will start loading. Wait for it to load up.
9. When it loads up, you will see a Search Box.
10. Use this box to search for the show that you want to watch with your friend.
11. Now, hover over the video you want to watch and click on it. It will start playing in the playlists section of the YouTube Activity screen.
8. Kast and Other Services
Here, I am going to mention some other services from where you can watch movies together online. Earlier, Rabbit was a popular service for watching online content together, but soon it was transitioned to a new platform called Kast. That led to people looking for Rabbit alternatives. While Kast looks promising for streaming purposes, it still does not have some of the basic Rabbit features. For example, you can’t play media through a web URL either from YouTube or Netflix. You can only screen share an application window to stream movies. But that does not offer the best experience as others can’t interact with the playback and the quality remains sub-par. Further, you have far better options like Zoom and Skype for screen sharing so I would not really recommend Kast for watching movies together online.
You can also go for TwoSeven which offers video chat features while watching movies together on Prime Video, Hulu, and various other platforms. However, you will need to pay a subscription fee for accessing some of the features. Next, there is a new promising extension called Vemos that allows you to video chat with friends while watching Netflix and Prime Video. Also, Caracal looks pretty nice if you want a good bitrate while watching movies together online.
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