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Disney+ launches GroupWatch feature that lets you watch shows with your friends

30 September 2020, 16:50

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By Jazmin Duribe

You can invite up to six friends to use GroupWatch with you.

Disney+ has just launched GroupWatch, a new feature that allows multiple users to binge on Disney+ shows and movies together.

GroupWatch is similar to Netflix Party, which also lets you and your friends watch the same show at the same time from different locations. Hulu and Amazon Prime Video also have similar features.

It couldn't have come at a better time considering we're still in a pandemic which has made it harder to see our friends and families for Disney+ binging sessions. Disney+ SVP of product management Jerrell B. Jimerson said GroupWatch would allow us all to have a safer viewing experience.

In a statement, he said: "Storytelling comes alive when you’re able to share and enjoy it with others, and in this moment when many are still apart from their friends and family, GroupWatch offers a way to safely connect virtually by co-viewing your favourite Disney+ stories with your favourite people from the comfort of your living room."

Disney+ now lets you watch movies with six people at once. Picture: Disney+, Chesnot/Getty Images

What is GroupWatch on Disney+?

The concept of Disney+ GroupWatch is simple. Whether you're on the Disney+ website, mobile app or TV, you can choose a movie and activate GroupWatch and then invite up to six of your BFFs (all must have a Disney+ account) to watch with you.

After the invitation is sent, you'll all be able to watch your chosen TV show or movie. But be warned, if you have any serial rewinders in your friendship group it'll affect you too. When a title is playing, anyone in the GroupWatch will be able to control the pause, play, fast-forward, or rewind functions.

And, unlike Netflix Party, which has a chat function so you can speak to your friends whilst watching, GroupWatch only allows the user to react with a select few emojis.

The GroupWatch feature has now been rolled out in the US after first being tested in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand earlier this month. If you're in Europe, GroupWatch will be coming later this year.