The growth in movie downloading coupled with the crippling consequences of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic means that fewer people than ever are watching movies with their friends. People don't go to the movies anymore.
ContentsPlex's Watch Together featureWho can use Plex Watch Together?How many people can connect using Watch Together?How to use Watch Together on PlexSyncLoungeSyncLounge featuresHow to use SyncLounge for PlexDisconnecting SyncLoungePlex's Watch Together vs. SyncLoungeHow to watch other video apps with friendsThis had a ripple effect on the social aspect of movie watching. Going to see a brand new movie in a crowded theater can be an exhilarating experience. You don't get that experience sitting on your couch.
Luckily, it's possible to watch Plex with your friends. The feature is available directly in the app using Watch Together or from a third-party tool called SyncLounge.
First, let's take a look at the native Plex tool for watching videos with friends. Called Watch Together, it is officially still in the experimental stage. However, the feature seems to work flawlessly and the interface is easy to use. It definitely gets the Means I/O seal of approval.
Although Plex's Watch Together feature remains in beta, it's free for all Plex users. However, this may change when it officially launches. Plex's own documentation seems to suggest that Watch Together will remain free if you only want to stream content from Plex's free, in-house, ad-supported streaming service. However, if you want to stream content from your own library, it looks like you need to subscribe to Plex Pass.
AdvertisementAs of this writing, you must have an Android, Android TV, Apple TV, iOS, or Roku device to use Watch Together. You cannot use Watch Together from the web application.
Officially, Plex hasn't named a user limit (although we're sure there is one).
In practice, however, the number of people who can sync content will depend on the Plex Media Server hardware, your network connection, your drive speed, and video quality.
AdvertisementConfused? Here's how Plex describes the user limit:
Be careful, trying to add too many users will cause playback issues and the video will be inaccessible.
Assuming you are using one of the supported devices, you will need to press More (three horizontal dots) on the pre-play video screen, then select Watch Together in the list of options.
AdvertisementNext, you need to add people to your Watch Together session. You can only invite Plex users that you are "friends" with. When ready, click on the names of the friends you want to add and press Done . To add a new friend, go to Settings>Users &Sharing>Share Libraries and enter the username or email address of the person you want to connect with.
(NB: If you just added a new friend and you don't see it in the list, you'll need to restart your app to refresh the screen.)
If you're invited to someone else's Plex Watch Together session, you'll see a Watch Together The row appears at the top of your app's home screen, along with the video uploaded by the host.
When users accept invites, they will all appear together in a lobby. Once everyone has arrived, the host can start playing. Only the host can control the play/pause functionality once the video has started. Hosts also have exclusive control of the various audio streams and subtitle tracks.
Advertisement
Formerly called Plex Together, SyncLounge is another great way to watch Plex with friends.
Like Plex's official Watch Together tool, SyncLounge will sync your individual Plex apps so you're all watching the same footage at the same time.
SyncLounge has features which are not yet available in the official tool. For example, you can hide your Plex username when you sign in to a room, you can join recent rooms, and you can autoplay upcoming episodes when watching TV with friends.
We also really like the app's user status indicators. Each user has a colored ring around their profile picture to indicate sync distance, and you can even see what type of Plex client they're using if you hover over their name.
To get started, click the Get Started link on the Sync Lounge website and enter your Plex login details. If you don't feel like handing over your credentials, you can download the app from GitHub and run it directly on your own server.
Hosts will need to create a room and invite others to join. Guests simply need to accept the invitation when it arrives.
Like Watch Together, only hosts can play and pause video, change subtitles, and change audio.
Don't worry, SyncLounge isn't the type of app that forces you to revoke access if you stop using it; your Plex user details are not stored on the developer's servers.
SyncLounge has some advantages over Plex's official Watch Together tool.
First, you don't need to be "Plex buddies" to sync your content. Second, the Plex servers of everyone connected to the room are available, creating a super-repo of content.
The danger, of course, is that Plex could unplug the backend API that makes a third-party app possible, especially once its own Watch Together feature comes out of beta.
In the long run, we'll assume that Plex's support for its in-house tool will help make it the better product, but for now, it's easy to argue for SyncLounge instead.
Plex isn't the only app that lets you watch content in sync with your friends far away. Netflix subscribers should find out how to use the Netflix Party Chrome extension, and there are also plenty of ways to watch YouTube with distant friends.
