It’s always nice to settle down on the couch and enjoy a few episodes of your favourite show on Netflix. The only thing nicer would be to do so while you’ve got company – having some friends over at the same time! This isn’t always possible, though, especially with social distancing, and that means not being able to share the experience with anyone outside your household.
Well, your lonely days of watching Netflix or some other streaming service alone in the past are thankfully over! It’s more than possible to host a virtual watch party over a number of streaming services and share the experience with family and friends online around the world. The best part is that it’s so easy anyone can do it – if you can click a mouse, you can set up a virtual watch party. All it takes is a laptop and a friend or two and you’ll be clicking “next episode” together in no time.
Introducing Teleparty
Formerly Netflix Party, the web-based app known as Teleparty is one of the best ways out there to watch Netflix or a number of other streaming providers together with friends and family, bringing people together from across the street to around the world. If you want to watch Netflix, HBO, BINGE, or Disney Plus with friends and family virtually, Teleparty has you covered. In fact, as a free Chrome extension, Teleparty lets you sync up high video quality playback with others who have the app installed as well. The newest version of the extension even includes support for the Microsoft Edge browser, too. The best part? It’s completely free of charge to use Teleparty to watch Netflix, HBO, or any other supported streaming provider.
What streaming service is supported?
Teleparty used to only work on Netflix, hence the name Netflix Party. It’s now known as Teleparty with the additions of Hulu, Disney Plus, and HBO Max. Hulu is not available in Australia while Foxtel owns HBO’s programming rights, leaving Aussies with Netflix and Disney Plus. Netflix’s streaming plans start from $10.99 per month, while Disney Plus’ single-tier monthly plan is at $11.99 per month.
Watch Netflix
Families and friends further bond over TV shows and movies. Watching the same series with them only means more fun conversations. Reflecting the sign of the times, Teleparty becomes a must-have if you want to continue hanging out with your friends with everyone’s favourite show on the screen. If you’re going to be watching something on Netflix, some of TV’s highly anticipated shows include latest seasons of acclaimed shows like Money Heist, Lucifer, and Sex Education. For the latest Netflix feature flicks, some of the top picks include Mary Elizabeth Winstead playing an assassin in Kate, Jason Momoa in Sweet Girl, and the fantasy anime The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
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Watch Disney Plus
Disney Plus has great titles that everyone will love. Marvel movies and TV spin-offs based on your favourite Marvel character alone are already very Netflix Party-material. Some of the streaming app’s latest additions this year are Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella with the latest Marvel movie, Black Widow, to follow suit soon. New series have also been added, including Only Murders in the Building, Turner and Hooch, Dug Days, Monsters at Work, and Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
Installation is Easy
The web app formerly known as Netflix Party is so easy to use you’ll wonder why you didn’t install it ages ago. From your web browser, simply navigate to the Netflix Party is Now Teleleparty link on the Chrome Web Store and click the “Add to Chrome” button. This will then download and install Teleparty for you!
When your download and setup are done, you should see a small “Tp” Teleparty icon in your Chrome extension toolbar, just to the right of your address bar. If it’s not there, click the puzzle piece icon in your toolbar to pin the extension to your toolbar. This way, you can easily click the icon to activate Teleparty extension when you’re ready to throw your next Netflix party and start playing!
Hosting Your First Virtual Watch Party
As easy as it was to install, starting up your first Netflix party is just as painless. Simply load up one of the streaming services you have and select a movie or video to watch. Then, click the Teleparty icon on your browser bar, click “Start Party”, and you’ll get an URL you can share with your friends. This URL will take your friends to the website of whatever streaming service you’re using. Once they do that, your friends simply have to click the Teleparty icon on their address bar as well to automatically join the party and the video will sync up with everyone watching and begin playing a movie or a series.
The Nitty Gritty
Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) is a fantastic way to watch your favourite shows and movies together with friends remotely. At the same time, there are some things you need to understand about this free app before you begin using it. First and foremost, this isn’t a screen share app – everyone using Teleparty needs to have an existing account with the streaming provider you’re using in order to watch the same movie or show. In other words, you can’t share your Netflix account with others who don’t have one if you’re hosting a Netflix party. There are other options for screen sharing you can explore if you don’t want to use Teleparty, but most of these screen sharing options and services don’t offer such high-quality capabilities.
There are some other things to keep in mind as well if you’re going to be throwing your next Netflix party. Since many streaming service providers like Netflix, Disney Plus, and others offer personalised content by geographical region, you might not be able to watch certain shows or movies with your friends if they live in countries where the content isn’t available. If you’ve got friends who live in the European Union or the United States, for example, they won’t be able to join you if you want to watch content exclusive to Australia, even though they have the Teleparty extension installed.
Also, please keep in mind that as a completely free app, Teleparty doesn’t actually generate any revenue. Instead, it relies on donations to stay in development – and this means that many advanced features like voice or video chatting are yet to be made available. Teleparty adds group chat to your viewing experience, and it also offers nickname customisation for anyone using the Teleparty extension, so you still will be able to chat with your friends as you enjoy your Netflix party!
Finally, Teleparty only offers video playback on laptop and desktop computers. There’s currently no support for the service on iOS or Android smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles, or other devices. This may change in the future, but for now, you’ll need to host or join your next Netflix party through your computer. If you’re hosting a Netflix party, you can either have total control over the video playback, or just leave it open to share control with others.
The Netflix Party of your Dreams
It can sure get lonely if you’re stuck at home with no one to share your favourite show or movie with. A free service like Teleparty, thanks to its easy setup, installation, and use, makes it easy to get together with friends and family to enjoy some entertainment together even if you’re far apart. As long as every one of your friends has individual accounts for Netflix or the other streaming services you’re using, you can use Teleparty to watch movies and shows on Netflix, Disney Plus, or HBO together for free. For more information on how to download this free extension, visit the Teleparty site today.
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