You won’t be binge-watching with your friends on the couch in the near future. Quarantine measures around the coronavirus have led many people to turn to online streaming services to pass the time. With the Netflix Party extension, you can watch Netflix with others online, so that it can still be made fun. Read here how.
The main problem with watching online videos with others is coordinating the moment when everyone presses ‘play’ simultaneously. Let alone if someone pauses halfway through the movie and the rest accidentally don’t. Before you know it, some of the viewers are deep in spoiler area and the rest are behind. Chaos!
You can automate this process with a tool like Netflix Party. Saves a lot of hassle and requires almost nothing except an extension for Chrome.
Install Netflix Party
Go to the Netflix Party site and click Get Netflix Party for free. You will be taken to the Chrome Web Store to install extensions. Click here Add to Chrome. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to add Netflix Party. Confirm with the button Add extension. You will now see an NP icon appear at the top right of the screen, next to the address bar where there are probably more extension icons.
Now go to Netflix itself and start a movie or an episode of a series of your choice. You notice that the gray icon at the top is now getting a red color by first placing a check mark in front of Only I have control, determine whether other viewers can pause, rewind, etc. Without a tick (the standard option) everyone has that option. Then click the blue button: Start the party.
Send link around
You will be assigned a link and a window will appear on the right that serves as a chat room. Simply forward the link to friends, who can then watch it. It’s nice that they don’t have to install the extension at all. As long as they use Chrome.
By clicking on the profile icon at the top right, everyone can choose their own icon and enter a nickname. This way you know who says what. Press play and the video starts simultaneously for everyone.
You can also consider keeping in touch with each other in a different way. For example, you could make (video) calls using software like Skype, Zoom, and Discord, so you can just talk out loud through the movie – just as you would in real life, admit it.
Some caveats. When you watch a series together, you need to start a new session for each new episode. In addition, it is not possible in Chrome to watch Netflix in full HD or 4K. The resolution gets stuck at 720p. Anyway, the fun of watching with friends outweighs the best image quality in this case, doesn’t it?
What are we going to watch?
The technology is there, now the question is what you are going to watch together. After all, we all know the endless scrolling through the huge range of Netflix. The more viewers, the longer this will take. Take a look at our article on the best Netflix movies and series. Or let fate determine with a site like Netflix Roulette. Are you suddenly in front of an Asian romcom, something else again!
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