These 2 Apps Make It Easy to Stream Almost Any Show or Movie With Friends

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You can watch shows together from across the country or from across the room on your phones.

Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.

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• Apple software beta tester, “Helps make our computers and phones work!” – Zach’s grandparents

Streaming is the most popular way to watch TV shows, accounting for about 38% of all TV usage, according to Nielsen. Streaming watch parties makes it possible to enjoy a show with a friend who lives miles away, or your partner while they’re on a business trip. Some services, like Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video, used to allow people to host watch parties right from the service, but those methods are no longer available. We’ll walk you through two methods that allow you to host watch parties on those services and many more. 

It’s important to note that both of these methods require you and your watch party to have access to the same streaming services. Simply put, everyone needs access to a Netflix account or these won’t work — and that goes for other streaming services. It is possible to use shared accounts if you or someone else pays for them. Both of these methods also require you and your friends and family to use the same method to work. 

Here’s what you should know about these methods and how you can host watch parties with others from miles apart. 

Teleparty

Teleparty, formerly 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 currently in beta, and the company says it’s working on iOS and Apple capabilities. 

Teleparty lets you host a watch party for up to 1,000 other people and its free version enables you to host watch parties for streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu and more. It also has a premium version (which costs $6.59 a month or $47.88 annually) that works with other services like Apple TV Plus, Crunchyroll and ESPN Plus. 

Once you download the Teleparty extensions or apps from the links above, here’s how to host a watch party.

1. Open a video in one of the supported streaming services.
2. Click the TP icon in the toolbar.
3. Click Start the Party.
4. A new page opens showing the video and a shareable link. Copy and send the link to your friends and family however you prefer.

To join the watch party, your invitees need to open the link, then click the TP icon in the toolbar and they’ll be connected to the watch party. Teleparty also has a group chat feature, so people can share reactions to scenes or just chat as the show or movie is playing.

SharePlay

Apple introduced SharePlay in 2021 with iOS 15 and MacOS Monterey, and the feature lets Apple users share their screen with other people via 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 all don’t want to be huddled around a single 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 services, like 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 needs to 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.
2. Tap the icon in the top-right corner of your screen that says Share and looks like a person standing in front of a screen.
3. In the new menu, tap Share My Screen.
4. Without ending the FaceTime call, go back to your home screen.
5. Open one of the supported streaming services and start watching.

While the show is playing, you can still talk to your friends and family like a regular FaceTime call. If you’re watching a horror movie, you can collectively yell at the teenagers for splitting up in the dark forest. 

For more on streaming services, here are CNET’s picks for best streaming services and devices that make streaming with a VPN easy.

Watch this: Roku vs. Chromecast vs. Apple TV 4K: What’s the Best Streaming Device?

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