Amazon Prime Video is testing a function to view content with more people remotely, having a chat with a synchronized player.
This is Group Video, a feature that is currently accessible from the web version of Prime Video for any Amazon Prime member user.
Just as during the beginning of the year Netflix Party became popular, an extension for Chrome that allows you to play content from the platform in sync with other users, Amazon Prime Video comes with its own alternative to do the same on its service.
Group Video is a new feature of Amazon’s video streaming platform, currently available only to users residing in the United States and accessing the service from the web, excluding Safari and other devices other than a computer.
This Prime Video feature is striking because it does not depend on extensions or plugins and because of its capacity to host up to 100 participants per session.
How Amazon Prime Video Group Videos Work
Members of Amazon Prime can create a Group Video only with the contents of that platform and not with external material, such as other types of downloads made through Amazon.
Once the title to be played has been located, to view it in a group it is necessary to go to the Group Video section that appears on the details page. After indicating a name or nickname, with which you will identify yourself in front of your guests in the chat, you will be able to complete this process and generate a link to share invitations through the channel of your preference.
To join a Group Video session, simply access the link, log in if you have not previously opened it, identify yourself with a name or nickname for the chat and click on the option Join Group Video. For guests there are the same restrictions as for hosts: being members of Amazon Prime and residing in the United States, for now.
With the preliminary launch of this function, Amazon Prime Video joins the boom that the aforementioned Netflix Party and other similar alternatives unleashed during confinement, as an alternative to share moments of entertainment from a distance.
During the past month, Hulu announced that it is working on a similar feature to implement alongside its services. In the same way, HBO announced efforts oriented in the same way, for its streaming platform. Also, following a more discreet profile, Plex recently implemented its own model of this tool, to take advantage of its content offered under streaming.
The function recently announced by Amazon, called Watch Party in English, could have some similarities with a similar feature that is present in Twitch, a service that is also owned by this Internet giant.
If, as a Prime Video user, you plan to go ahead and not wait for this function to reach your country, if you find yourself outside the United States, your attempts may not be successful. From the same platform they point out that if it is to use a VPN to skip geolocation, an error message will appear.
As it is a recently implemented feature, there is still no official information regarding the extension of this function to more territories where this streaming service operates or about its eventual arrival on other platforms, such as mobile phones or tablets.
