Facebook’s new Watch Together feature lets you have fun with friends no matter how far apart you are. The new feature allows for joint-viewing sessions with friends from the Messenger app.
In an About Facebook blog post, Facebook announced its new Watch Together feature on both the iOS and Android versions of the Messenger app. With Watch Together, you can view Facebook Watch videos with your friends.
During the joint-viewing session, you’ll get to watch videos and video chat with your friends at the same time. This lets you see your friends’ reactions right as they happen.
Facebook Watch has a wide selection of videos to choose from. It’s a hub for Facebook’s original content, user uploads, sports live streams, and much more.
When you use Watch Together, just keep in mind that it’s only compatible with Facebook Watch. In other words, you can’t use it with any other video-sharing or streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu.
So if you really want to watch a certain movie that isn’t on Facebook Watch, you’ll have to try another way to watch movies online with friends instead.
To start a Watch Together session, you can either start a video call with a friend or create a Messenger Room. You can watch videos with up to 50 people in Messenger Rooms, and up to eight in a Messenger video call.
Once you’re in the call (or Room), swipe up on the screen, and hit Watch Together. Facebook will present you with a feed of recommended videos, but you can also choose from the video categories on Facebook Watch.
When you select a video, you can laugh, cry, and scream with friends as the video plays on.
Adding Watch Together to the Facebook Messenger app is a good move for the social media giant. Facebook already has a Watch Party feature, but this is only available for the desktop version of the site. That said, a mobile Watch Together feature makes connecting with friends even more convenient.