Apple released SharePlay for Group FaceTime for iPhone and iPad in iOS 15.1, and the fun collaboration feature is coming soon to the Mac. Apple supports SharePlay with many of its media apps, including Music and TV, and more third-party apps are adding creative ways to work with Group FaceTime as well. The latest is the game-centric video streaming service Twitch.
SharePlay requires each participant on the Group FaceTime call to have access to the service being used. This can limit experiences like watching videos on subscription video services when each person on the call doesn’t have their own paid membership.
Using Twitch with SharePlay over Group FaceTime shouldn’t face this limitation. Everyone on the call can easily participate as long as they have a free account signed in on the Twitch app. Twitch details how it works in a support article published today:
- Once in a call, open the Twitch app and play a stream you would like to watch together.
- For your first SharePlay session, FaceTime will ask you if you would like to play the stream for just you or for everyone in the call. It will remember your selection thereafter.
- Choose to play it for everyone and Twitch will open the stream on everyone’s device and playback will begin syncing between all participants’ devices.
- While watching together with SharePlay, all participating callers will be kept in sync at the same point in the stream. Controls that affect stream playback, such as pause and play, will also sync.
During the SharePlay experience, Twitch says anyone participating can chat, follow, subscribe, and cheer from their own account. The feature also lets participants select what is playing for the group:
Anyone can change the Twitch channel being watched by navigating to another channel. The first time you navigate to another channel, you will be asked if you want everyone to view the channel you’re currently watching. Thereafter, the channel will automatically change to every new stream you’re viewing.
SharePlay also works with Apple TV, and Twitch has a video player app for tvOS, but support is specific to iPhone and iPad for now. Twitch for iOS is available for free on the App Store.
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