Disney+ officially launched its newest feature, GroupWatch, to US users this week. The feature allows up to seven Disney+ subscribers to sync streams and watch together.
“[GroupWatch] provides a really easy way to watch with friends and family, particularly in times when you can’t have four friends over on a Friday or Saturday night to watch something like The Mandalorian,” Jerrell Jimerson, Disney+’s SVP of product management, told CNN Business. “This is a great way to have a similar kind of experience with other people you would otherwise be hanging out with in person.”
GroupWatch is currently available on all titles in the Disney+ library across several platforms (web browsers, mobile apps, connected TV boxes, and smart TVs).
Check out how you can access the GroupWatch feature.
1. Pick Your Title
Subscribers can invite other users to a party through a new icon on the “Details” page of a Disney+ movie or TV series.
Users can watch any title using GroupWatch. If users want to watch a Premier Access title, such as the recently released Mulan, all users participating in the party must have paid for the title.
2. Gather Your Group
To send an invite, subscribers must select a title to watch and press the “GroupWatch” icon on the title’s details page.
Users should know that invitations to GroupWatch parities can only “originate from mobile or web app.” However, once they are sent, anyone can open them from any streaming device/smart TV to acess the GroupWatch party.
3. Watch Together
Once users join the GroupWatch party, their streams will be synced.
4. React in Real Time
These reactions are currently limited to six different emojis, but Jimerson told CNN Business that text-based chat is a possibility for future updates.
Disney+ Streaming Guides
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The Complete Disney+ Catalog at Launch
Disney Plus Group Watch — Sources
Disney+
CNN Business: Disney Plus Group Watch