Amazon has now launched a Prime Video Watch Parties feature that lets users stream movies and show episodes together, even when they are not physically in the same room, or even the same city.
Amazon Prime Video contains a variety of movies and shows that can be accessed for free with a Prime membership, making it a useful streaming service for those that already foot the membership cost for free shipping. With so many now having to limit how much physical contact they have with friends and family, Amazon has found a way they can still watch Prime Video exclusives together.
The new ‘Watch Parties’ feature is currently labeled as in beta and therefore, users may find that it is a little limiting in some respects. However, Amazon does say that it allows Prime members the option to watch and chat with up to 100 friends in one viewing. In addition, setting up a watch party is fairly easy to do.
How to set up an Amazon Prime Watch Party:
- Find a movie or TV show.
- Click on the Watch Party icon
- Enter your name
- Click on ‘Invite friends’
- Share generated link
Amazon Watch Party limitations
While Amazon says up to 100 people can take part in each watch party, all 100 will also need to be Prime members as well. Another caveat is the feature is currently only limited to Prime members based in the United States, Amazon has yet to confirm if it will become available elsewhere.
With this being a beta feature, device support is also limited. For example, Prime Video watch parties can only be accessed via a desktop browser at the moment. Smart TVs, phones, set-top boxes, as well as the company’s own line of Fire TV devices are currently not supported. Further adding to the device limitations, Apple’s Safari browser is also currently unsupported.
Content is another restriction, considering it is limited to what is included with a Prime membership for free. Therefore, while members can use Prime Video to rent movies that are not included with their membership, it seems unlikely they will be able to stream those rentals with friends and family.
A final limitation is that only the host will be able to control the playback during a Prime Video watch party, this includes pausing and skipping forwards or back through scenes.
Source: Amazon
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