When we first started going on lockdown due to the pandemic, Hulu was one of the first to actually offer a way for its users to watch together even while they’re apart. But the Watch Party feature was limited only to subscribers who were paying for the ad-free version. Now the video streaming giant is offering this feature for all subscribers . This will be a useful thing for those who have chosen to not spend the holidays together in person but would still love to have some video watching bonding time.
On the Hulu website, you’ll see the Watch Party icon on the details page of a movie or TV show. From there, you can share a link to watch the particular video to up to 7 people. All the other people in your watch party need to have a Hulu subscription to be able to join. You’ll be able to watch the same thing in real time. But if you need to go to the bathroom and you don’t want to interrupt their viewing, you can hit pause on your end and then tap the “click to catch up” button when you get back.
Hulu says you’ll be able to react in real-time with your fellow watch party goers through the chat function. This is an improvement over other watch party features from other streaming services where you can only use a third-party app or react through emojis. While you can control your own playback, there is no mention if the one who invited you to join can also control the playback for the other users.
Hulu is of course promoting the holidays to get people to watch their holiday-themed movies and shows. The recently released original film The Happiest Season reportedly “broke” streaming records when it was released over the Thanksgiving weekend. You can also watch holiday episodes from their back catalog of shows like The Golden Girls, This Is Us, and FAmily Guy.
There are of course several other streaming services that offer watch-together features like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Sling TV, and Movies Anywhere. But if you’re a Hulu subscriber, both for the no ads and the regular subscribers, then this should be great for you, if you’re 18 years old and above.
