The Coronavirus pandemic has generated a series of needs that has forced many services to modify their characteristics and even to reinvent themselves. Netflix, YouTube and other streaming services were forced to lower the quality of their broadcasts to reduce the consumption of bandwidth in the world, and video conferencing services such as Zoom saw their user base multiply exponentially. And it is that, the demand asks to consume from home, and if it can be accompanied, then better.
plex with friends
One of the companies that has found itself in this situation is plex. Some users requested through the networks the arrival of a function that would allow them to play content in company remotely, so that, if you want to watch a movie with your family, you can do it without having to meet with your loved ones.
Well, the company got down to work, and decided to develop the function watch with friends, which allows the same thing that was requested: watch movies with remote company. This new feature will allow you to watch content in sync with a group of friends, so if someone pauses, your playback will also pause at the same time.
The function is directly integrated into the new versions of the service, so we are going to explain what you need and what you have to do to enjoy this new function. The advantage of using Plex is that only one of the participants in this virtual meeting should have the movie or multimedia content, while the rest will connect remotely to your session to view the content.
What I need?
- The most important is have updated plex to the latest version. This implies both the Plex Server version and the client version for Android or iOS, so check your apps to confirm that you have the latest version installed.
- To download the latest version of plex server, you just have to go to the download website of the service and choose the version you need for your system. In our case we have updated the package for Synology NAS devices.
- On the other hand, you must also download the latest version of the client application, and for this you must go to the corresponding application store to get the latest version.
Right now, Watch with Friends is available on Android, iOS, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. The Plex web client does not offer the ability to use this feature, so you will need to use any of the above platforms in order to use it.
How to turn on Watch with Friends
Once you have updates checked and versions up to date, it's time to use the feature. The application will receive you with the message of the arrival of the new utility and will basically explain how to use it. It is very simple.
- You only have to select the content that you want to see in a group, and instead of clicking on play, select the icon of the three points and find the option “Watch with friends”.
- If you click on this option, a new menu will appear with your personal list of friends so that you can select those with whom you want to start the cinephile evening.
- Once you choose who you want to watch the session with, guests will receive an invitation to play on the Plex home screen, and they just have to join for the show to start. From this point on, everyone invited can take control of the playback.
Remember that to add new friends you just have to click on the users icon in the drop-down menu of the application.
