How to Watch Movies With Friends on YouTube

Various local production houses have started to roll out good independent films on their YouTube channels. However, the video-sharing platform doesn’t have a built-in streaming feature to share videos with people in real-time. Thanks to StreamParty, you can now bond with your friends and other distant loved ones while following social distancing measures.

Just like the tool being used in Netflix Party, the StreamParty is a web browser extension that allows people to experience synchronized video playback and live chat on their PCs or laptops for free. Unlike any other extensions, this one doesn’t require people to have a paid premium subscription to YouTube. Apart from YouTube, this tool also works with Netflix and Disney +. Its website says that future support for other platforms will be available soon. The beta test is currently open for Chrome and Firefox users, but future updates will include compatibility with other web browsers such as Opera and Brave.

How does it work?

Step 1: For Chrome users, go to the StreamParty website. For Firefox users, go here, click ‘Add to Firefox,’ and proceed to step 4.

Step 2: Click ‘Join Beta.’ You’ll be redirected to the Chrome Web Store of the extension. Click ‘Add to Chrome.’

Step 3: Go to the platform you would want to watch with your friends and search for a specific video to share. If you’re going to use Netflix and Disney+, make sure to log-in first through the web browser before using it.

Step 4: Click the flag icon next to the address bar and wait for it to load. Log-in using your Gmail account.

Step 5: Under the ‘Create Party’ dialog box, choose ‘Start the Party.’  You may tick the option above it to solely control basic controls such as play, pause, volume, fast forward, and rewind.

Step 6: Copy the link generated by the extension and share it with your friends. Do note that they could only join the room once they installed the extension on their Chrome browsers and clicked the StreamParty icon.

Step 7: Grab some snacks to munch on and enjoy the movie while chatting away!

And that’s it! Should you want to leave the watch party, just click the flag icon and choose ‘Disconnect.’ As of this writing, watching multiple videos in the same session is not allowed by the extension. However, StreamParty is currently working on it to make it possible in future updates.

Sit back, relax, and have a happy viewing!