Thanks to the latest update of MacOS Monterey 12.1, we can use SharePlay on Facetime. In this way we can watch movies, programs or listen to music with our friends and family in real time. Ideal to share a moment of happiness accompanied by the people we love the most, despite the distance.
What is SharePlay?
SharePlay is a function used to share screens which allows us to view movies and TV shows through FaceTime. This virtual function is quite interesting, it is not that it is a new concept. Other services for watching movies like Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, even Disney + include joint viewing features for some time.
Due to the integration with Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, Mac and Apple TV) SharePlay makes the joint visualization really interesting. Something that is too interesting is the synchronized playback and shared controls. In this way, everyone who participates in the FaceTime call can control the playback without problems and transmit content at the same time, without any kind of delays. This is very important because, let’s pretend that we are watching a comedy or horror movie, when one of the participants reacts, the other knows why.
What applications and services does SharePlay support?
Currently, only a few applications and services can use SharePlay. However, it is a matter of time before we find more available. Because macOS 12 Monterey and iOS 15 are relatively new, this takes time.
- Paramount +
- NBA TV
- TikTok
- Apple tv
- Apple Fitness
- ShowTime
- Kahoot!
- Cameo
- MUBI
- SmartGym
- Heads Up!
- CARROT Weather
- Apollo
- Night sky
- Flow
- Moon FM
- Digital Concert Hall
- Piano with Friends
- Relax Melodies
- Lookup
Another thing to consider is that several of these services require a subscription, everyone who participates must have a subscription. Some programs may not even be available.
Requirements to be able to use SharePlay
In order to use SharePlay, all devices must have macOS 12.1, iOS 15.1 or iPad 15.1. Is it possible to use it with Android or Windows devices? Unfortunately you cannot. Although macOS 12 and iOS 15 allow you to share links and use FaceTime on Windows, links are only valid for audio or video calls.
How to enable SharePlay on FaceTime from Mac
To start, we will have to enable SharePlay on our MacOS Monterey device.
We started “FaceTime” on our Mac.
Next, we are going to click on the “FaceTime” menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Now we will have to select “Preferences” in the drop-down menu.
After this we will have to select the “SharePlay” tab.
In this section, we are going to have to make sure that the SharePlay checkbox is checked. In this way we make sure that we can use applications to listen to music or watch movies with the people we want.
How to use it to watch movies with friends or family
The first thing we will have to do is open the FaceTime application on Mac and start a FaceTime video call.
When all our friends are on the call, we will have to go to any of the compatible applications (the ones we show you above). We will have to use the FaceTime screen sharing app using the Apple TV app.
A pop-up notification from SharePlay will appear saying “Choose content to use in SharePlay”.
When we start playing any kind of content, a pop-up window will appear with several options. In this window we are going to have to click on “SharePlay” so that all the participants of the call can transmit and watch the movie at the same time.
In this way, the people who are going to participate will receive an alert to join SharePlay. They will have to accept and in this way the content can be viewed together.
