The Watching Room app allows synchronized viewing of movies with friends or family, regardless of location. So whether you are in a long-distance relationship with your partner or a long-distance relationship with a friend, you can watch your favorite movie or TV show together on the streaming platform.
Curling up on the couch with friends and family to watch a movie or binge-watch a TV show is always the most fun. But distance causes us to miss out on these moments and enjoy them. Advances in technology have allowed us to watch online content with our loved ones without the need to travel. Multiple online services, i.e. viewing parties, will sync the videos you are watching and stay connected throughout.
How does a viewing party work?
The first step is to choose an app to watch the movie with your friends. Everyone needs to be actively subscribed to the same streaming app like Netflix or Amazon Prime, for most apps, you’ll need a computer and a Google Chrome browser to work.
Once you’ve logged into your device and the app, you can start watching movies together. The watch party service syncs the video for each viewer. If one person pauses, it pauses for everyone. The service lets you chat with friends while you watch a movie. Some applications allow video chat. You can enjoy the comments with your friends and make the moment very enjoyable.
Here are some of the most popular apps for watching movies online.
Chrome Watch Party
Chrome Watch Party is a free tool to watch movies or TV shows from your favorite streaming service.
Chrome Watch Party is a completely free tool. The platform synchronizes movies or TV shows from several streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. It allows group video or audio chats with unlimited GIFs for the chatters, the chats are automatically deleted after 24 hours.
Download the Chrome extension, Firefox plugin or Microsoft Edge plugin on your respective browsers. Click on the watch party icon and fill in the three text fields needed to create or join a party.
Amazon Prime Watch Party
Amazon Prime Watch Party lets you watch movies with the people you love on Amazon Prime. It enables you to watch with up to 100 friends or family members and chat with them at the same time. You can watch any movie or TV show that’s included with Prime.
Each person watching the video must be in the same country as the host, be a Gold member, or at least have purchased the video.
Choose a movie or TV show that you and others want to watch. Click the watch party icon on your Amazon Prime to create your watch party and enter your name. You can send invitations to watch parties to up to 100 people through a single link. Once everyone has joined, the host can play, pause, skip or stop the movie.
It works on multiple browsers except Safari or Internet Explorer. This watch party allows you to watch a movie with up to 100 people and chat with them at the same time — no need to download any plug-ins or extensions to start using Amazon Watch Party.
Scanner
Scanner is a Chrome extension that allows up to 10 people to join and watch movies together on the streaming platform. The application comes with live chat and video calling capabilities.
Everyone must have a laptop or computer with internet access, a microphone, a webcam, and a subscription to the streaming platform.
Download and install the Scanner Chrome extension on your desktop device. The next step is to add all the friends you already have on the platform by searching for their names and clicking the «Add Friends» button. It allows users who have a remote control to play, pause, skip, rewind or stop the movie. Virtual remotes can be passed on to others by moving the cursor over each other’s names and clicking the remote button. Another unique benefit is watching a movie with a stranger, just like you would at a movie theater through a scheduled public viewing party.
Remote Parties
Remote Parties, formerly Netflix party, is a Chrome browser extension that allows you to watch movies or TV shows on Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max or Amazon Prime. It must be installed on only one computer and lets you create a link to watch the party and share it with your friends or family.
Download the Phone Party extension on your Chrome browser. Once installed, open Netflix and start playing the movie you want to watch. Next form a unique link by pausing the video and share it with others. Phone Party enables simultaneous video playback on streaming apps.
Rave
Rave is a free application that enables users to get together to watch a movie or Google photos while talking or chatting with each other. One of the users can create a room by sending invitations to others via a link or by searching for their names within the platform. It allows streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, etc. to be synchronized across all users’ devices. It’s free. Rave is available for iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows. There is no limit to the number of people who can join a viewing party.
One of the users can create a viewing room and send a link to invite another person. The other person can click on the link and it will sync YouTube videos or locally stored videos together. The platform is best suited for virtual long-distance date nights, or for two friends or kids who want to have a fun night out. Stare is very user-friendly.
