(Credit: Apple)
Watching a movie or listening to a song is often more satisfying when you’re sharing the experience with other people. But unless friends and family can drop by your home at a moment’s notice, that type of shared experience may not always be feasible—at least not in person. Instead, why not go virtual, courtesy of Apple’s SharePlay feature.
Many video streaming services already have virtual watch party features, but only SharePlay allows you to share video and audio content from multiple apps on Apple devices. First, gather people together on a FaceTime video call. From there, share TV shows and movies through Disney+ or Hulu, songs from Apple Music, and videos on MasterClass, TikTok, or Twitch. You can even share live sporting events, play multiplayer games, or share your screen to let others see what you’re doing.
Can I Use SharePlay?
To join a SharePlay session, participating mobile devices must be running iOS/iPadOS 15.1 or higher. To share live sporting events, you’ll need iOS/iPadOS 18.2 or higher. SharePlay support on macOS rolled out with macOS Monterey 12.1.
To share content from an app that requires a subscription, all viewers must have their own subscriptions. To watch a purchased movie or TV show, all participants must also have purchased the item in order to watch it together. However, some apps, such as TikTok and Twitch, don’t require everyone to have an account to view shared videos.
SharePlay works with all of Apple's own apps, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Fitness+. Third-party apps, like Amazon Music, Cameo, Disney+, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube, and many more, are also supported. This App Store Preview page for SharePlay offers a list of all the apps that work with the feature.
Enable SharePlay
Before you can share content through FaceTime, make sure that SharePlay is enabled on your device. Go to Settings > Apps > FaceTime > SharePlay and turn on SharePlay if it’s not already enabled. Everyone you invite to the call must do the same. You can then launch FaceTime and place a video call to those you want to join the shared activity. Now, let’s look at how SharePlay plays out with a variety of supported apps.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)How to Share Content With SharePlay
To share songs from Apple Music, everyone will need to have subscriptions (or pay for it through the Apple One bundle). After starting your FaceTime call, open the Apple Music app, select an album or song, and tap Play. To share your current song, tap SharePlay in the menu that appears, and it should start playing on everyone’s devices while on the call.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)To share Apple TV+ content, open the Apple TV app during the FaceTime call and start playing a movie or TV show. Tap SharePlay on the menu that appears to share your current video with the other people on the call. Everyone will need to tap Open on the Join SharePlay prompt, then tap Join SharePlay. The video then starts playing on all devices.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)Before you can all work out with Apple, everyone needs to have an Apple Fitness+ subscription to share content. Fire up the Apple Fitness app on your iPhone or iPad while on a FaceTime call. Tap the Choose Content to Use SharePlay notification at the top of the screen, then select SharePlay > Share My Screen from the FaceTime toolbar at the top.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)Tap a workout video that you want to play, then choose SharePlay. The other people on the call should tap the Open button next to the Join SharePlay notification. The video is then shared among all the people on the call.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)In the case of apps like TikTok and Twitch, the other people on the call don’t need the app installed in order to watch video. Start your FaceTime call and open the app. Tap the Choose Content to Use SharePlay notification at the top of the screen, then select SharePlay > Share My Screen in the FaceTime Video toolbar at the top. You can then fire up a video and the other people will see it on their screens.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)How To Share Your Screen
Instead of sharing content from a supported app, you can also share any window on your screen. To do this, kick off your FaceTime call and tap on the screen share icon in the FaceTime toolbar, then select Share My Screen.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)Now open any app or window, and the screen will be shared among the other people on the call. Your onscreen activity will also be visible to those in attendance.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)Tweak Your SharePlay Settings
Once you enable SharePlay for a certain Apple app, it remains automatic for the next sharing session. For instance, if you share music through Apple Music, it should automatically start playing for everyone the next time you rev up a song for a sharing session. You can change this setting under Settings > Apps > FaceTime > SharePlay.
Any Apple apps you have previously shared through this feature will be seen under the SharePlay Automatically header. Turn off any apps listed if you don't wish to automatically share them next time. By turning this off, you will need to manually tap the Share My Screen button each time, as if you were setting it up for the first time.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)