One of the new features that Apple will be launching in the fall for the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac is SharePlay. It allows you to watch or listen to your favorite movies, series and music while video chatting with friends or family. How exactly does the new feature work?
For now, SharePlay is not supported by many apps. Only the official Apple TV app, Apple Music, and Apple Podcasts will allow you to use the feature. Apple promises that the list of apps will grow once SharePlay has appeared, with support for Disney Plus, TikTok and Twitch, among others. Whether Netflix and YouTube will also support SharePlay remains to be seen.
That is how it works
If you want to use SharePlay on a iPhone or iPad, everyone you call must have a device with iOS 15 or iPadOS 15. Then you can start a one-on-one call or group meeting via FaceTime with anyone who wants to watch a certain movie or listen to music with you listen.
Once in the call, you can minimize the FaceTime app, so that the video image will occupy a small part of your screen. Then go to an app that supports the SharePlay feature and put on a movie or album, just like you normally do. There is nothing more to it.
Everything in sync
SharePlay itself ensures that the film or music is the same for everyone. Because all participants have the same playback controls in view, everyone can operate the play, pause and fast forward buttons. If a friend presses the pause button to grab some popcorn, everyone’s movie will be paused. Do you want to drop out sooner? Then you can simply step out of the video call, while the rest continues to watch.
The SharePlay feature on a Mac works in a similar way to an iPhone and iPad, but works a little differently on an Apple TV. After all, you cannot start a FaceTime call on Apple television. If you want to use SharePlay on an Apple TV, start a FaceTime call on your iPhone, iPad or Mac (with the new version of the operating system, of course). Press the TV button on your Apple TV remote and you will see the new SharePlay icon. The television will play the media, but the video call will continue to take place on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
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