Watching together¶
Watch the same film at the same moment as other people, each on your own screen. One person opens a room; the others join it with a code. There is nothing to set up on the server.
In short:
- Start the film in the web player or the Android app, and press Watch Together. You are the host of the room, and you see its code: six letters and digits.
- Send the code to the people you want with you.
- They join with the code: from their own account (see the table below), or, without an account, with Watch together on the sign-in page.
Who can pause or move the film for everyone depends on the app: see What each member controls.
Each person still gets the version of the film that suits their own device, as explained in How playback is decided.
Starting and joining a room¶
| Web | Android | Android TV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start a room | Watch Together in the player | Watch Together in the player | - |
| Join with an account | The room's link, or the code in Listen Together → Join a room | The code in Listen Together | The code in Settings → Watch Together |
| Join without an account | Watch together on the sign-in page, with the code | Same | - |
Typing the code is forgiving: capitals or not, spaces, and O for 0 or
I or L for 1 are all accepted.
Joining with an account follows the usual rules: the library must be shared with that account, and the profile's parental settings must allow the title. A restricted profile cannot open a room on a title it may not watch either.
What each member controls¶
| Host | Other members | |
|---|---|---|
| Android | Play, pause and seek move the whole room. | Play, pause and seek stay on your own screen. |
| Android TV | Play and pause move the whole room; a seek stays on the TV. | Same as Android. |
| Web | Play, pause and seek stay on your own screen, for the host too. | Same. |
In the web player, explicit buttons replace the host's control. Sync everyone brings the whole room to your position and resumes playback; any member can use it, not only the host. Catch up brings you back to where the room is, without moving anyone else; it is offered on the guest page (joined with a code, without an account), not in the signed-in player.
Someone who joins late starts where the room is now, not where it was when the last command was sent.
If the host leaves, the member who has been in the room longest becomes the host. When the last member leaves, the room closes, and the guest access its code gave is withdrawn. A room nobody ever entered is removed after an hour.
Guests without an account¶
A guest who enters a code on the sign-in page watches that one title and nothing else:
- streaming only, never downloading;
- video rooms only, not music rooms;
- the access lasts while it is used, lapses after three hours without playback and after 24 hours in any case, and ends as soon as the room closes.
Warning
The code is the only thing that protects a room, so share it only with the people you want in it. Wrong codes are limited per address and across the whole server, which keeps guessing them out of reach.
Listening together¶
A music room is started from Listen Together with a queue of albums, tracks and playlists. The host plays, pauses, and moves through the queue; every member follows. Guests without an account cannot join music rooms.