Amazon Prime Video just upgraded a Watch Party feature in its platform
Making ensuring that the streaming services we pay for delivering the best value for money is more crucial than ever as living expenses climb. For its part, Amazon is extending support for the platform’s popular Watch Party feature to a variety of other streaming devices, including Roku streaming sticks, smart TVs, and gaming consoles, in an effort to retain Prime Video users who enjoy viewing movies and TV series with others.
Up to 100 Prime subscribers can watch content simultaneously with this functionality, which was previously restricted to Fire TV devices, desktop web browsers, and the Prime Video mobile app. TechCrunch was the first to report about its expansion (opens in new tab). Presently, Watch Party is only compatible with library content found in a normal Prime Video membership and is only available to US subscribers. Viewers cannot host a group session for movies they have leased, live sports events, or Freevee (formerly known as IMDbtv) movies and TV series.
When the Covid-19 epidemic first broke out, when friends and families were forced to stay indoors yet still desire to share entertainment content with one another remotely, this feature became increasingly popular. Around the same time, comparable capabilities were introduced on other streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max. While the desktop version of Netflix is compatible with the Teleparty browser plugin, unlike Prime Video, it does not offer an in-app group viewing functionality. Netflix’s absence of proprietary sharing software is a glaring flaw in an otherwise feature-rich service.
Of course, the newly enhanced Watch Party function for Prime Video doesn’t automatically make Amazon’s platform a superior streaming service. In reality, it’s unclear whether the ability to share content with others remotely will have any real influence on whether or not consumers decide to keep their streaming subscriptions. However, Prime Video’s expansion of a feature that its main rival hasn’t fully adopted will only benefit a streamer whose content offering is continuing to get better and better. Check out our overview of Amazon Prime Video’s impending Lord of the Rings TV show and the mystery behind its most well-known series for additional information on the platform’s situation in 2022.