By: Nick Gambino
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us all indoors in an unprecedented event, many of us are figuring out ways to not lose our minds in quarantine. Outside of Zoom meetings and homeschooling sessions from hell, a lot of us are catching up on our must-watch streaming.
But even solo watching can get a bit stale at times, leaving us in dire need of a social pick-me-up in the form of a good ol’ watch party. Social distancing rules in effect, that can be a bit hard unless you’ve got a remote watch solution like Netflix Party. Luckily, this is a simple option for anyone with a Netflix account and access to a Google Chrome browser.
Netflix Party is a browser extension that allows multiple people to link up their viewing experience with an ongoing chat running along the side throughout. The experience isn’t unlike an in-person watch party on a single TV – if one person pauses, everyone’s screen pauses, etc.
I gave Netflix Party a whirl a couple weeks back and it’s a pretty cool social alternative when you’re not supposed to be within 6 feet of most people. A group of us (7 in total) binged all of Tiger King in a single evening using this feature. If you’ve watched this “methed” up show, then you can imagine the running WTF commentary that filled up our chat.
To get started with Netflix Party, you’re going to go to the Chrome Web Store and download the extension for free. You should get a pop-up that reads “Add Extension,” click that. If you don’t get a pop-up, simply open Chrome and tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Go to More tools > Extensions. From there, just turn the Netflix Party extension on.
Go to Netflix and play the movie or show you want to watch, then click the red “NP” icon next to the address bar. Click “Start Party” and you’ll get a URL link that you can send to your friends. If you’ve received a link to join a party, simply click on it and you’ll be taken to Netflix where you can then click the “NP” icon at the top to join the viewing. That’s it!
Unfortunately, it’ll only work if you are watching through your Chrome browser on a laptop or desktop computer. I tried to cast the Netflix Party to my TV from my MacBook Pro using Google Chromecast and it just wouldn’t sync up properly. Though, I’m sure there’s a workaround that’ll allow you to view it on your TV (try mirroring or linking your laptop directly to your TV).
“Happy” quarantining.
