Ain't no party like a Netflix Party, because a Netflix party works in quarantine. Yes, we've found a way to watch Netflix with our friends even with the limits of social distancing that arrived to help stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
An essential tool for those staying at home, which can get awful boring and lonely when you're on your own, Netflix Party lets you enjoy Netflix programming with friends at the same time by adding virtual tools for chatting and synchronous streaming. All in the name of staving off cabin fever, a very real issue right now. Yes, it's very important to maintain your physical health, but you can't let your mental health slide, as we note in our coronavirus tips for staying safe.
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So, to help us all stay social while on lockdown at home, we've put together a guide for how to use Netflix Party for watching movies and TV shows with with friends remotely. Yes, you can binge the best Netflix series or the best Netflix movies on your own, but doing it with friends and loved ones is so much more fun.
How to watch Netflix with friends with Netflix Party
An easy to watch Netflix with friends is with the Google Chrome extension Netflix Party, which we discovered thanks to this tweet:
PSA: If you want to still have movie night with friends without risking COVID-19 spread, Chrome has an extension called Netflix Party that allows you to simultaneously stream Netflix with friends. It has a chat window & play/pauses for everyone in the group so you stay synced.March 16, 2020
Netflix Party synchronizes video playback and provides a group chat window so you and your friends can talk about what you're watching.
The extension is available for free in the Chrome Web Store. Here are the steps to follow to enable Netflix Party:
- Download Netflix Party from the Chrome Web Store.
- Sign into Netflix on your Chrome web browser and select a video.
- Create your party by clicking the red "NP" icon in the extensions area next to the address bar.
- Select whether you want to have sole control over playback or allow others to have control.
- Copy the party URL and send it to your friends.
- To join someone else's Netflix party, click the party URL and then click the "NP" icon to watch Netflix with friends at the same time and chat during playback.
- Click your user icon in the top right corner to change your icon.
Things to know about Netflix Party
- Once you're in the party, you can customize your icon and display name.
- Depending on the control level, you or anybody can pause, rewind and fast forward playback for the entire party.
- If you're watching a show, the next episode will start playing and the party can keep going.
- That doesn't seem to be the case for movies, though, so you'll have to start a new Netflix party and share that URL.
- It's unclear how many people can join one party.
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