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At the WWDC 2021 event, Apple unveiled a major update for FaceTime aimed at enhancing its competitiveness against Zoom and other video calling services that have surged in popularity over the past year. As part of that update, the company introduced a new feature called SharePlay, essentially transforming FaceTime into a 'watch together' service, and here's what you need to know about this feature.
If you're unfamiliar with FaceTime, you can learn about it in the article here.
- Learn more: What is Facetime
What makes Apple SharePlay special?
Key information about Apple SharePlay
1. What is Apple SharePlay?
During FaceTime calls, SharePlay allows you to stream and share music, watch movies and TV shows with friends while chatting in real-time, and share your screen. Upon launch, it will work with various third-party apps, including TikTok, so you can bring all sorts of content into your FaceTime call.
2. When will SharePlay feature be released?
Apple has announced that the SharePlay feature will not be included in the initial release of iOS 15 and will debut in a later iOS 15 update.
- Learn more: What is Web5?
3. What can you do with SharePlay?
There are three things you can do with SharePlay: listen together, watch together, and screen share.
- Listen together: Imagine you're on a FaceTime call with a friend discussing a favorite song or album. With SharePlay, you can start playing the song being discussed immediately. Simply open the Apple Music app, find the song or album, press play, and select Listen Together. The music will start syncing for everyone on the call. Everyone in the call can add songs to the queue and then share controls like pause or skip.
- Watch together: During a FaceTime call, you can use SharePlay to start a movie or TV show viewing session with friends. Apple calls this the 'Shared Viewing' experience. Just open the TV app or streaming app and press play. Then, the content will sync across your device and viewers watching with you.
4. Which apps does SharePlay work with?
In addition to Apple Music and Apple TV, SharePlay also works with various other popular streaming apps and services because Apple has created the SharePlay API for developers. Apple has stated that they are collaborating with several partners such as Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, the NBA app, Twitch, TikTok, MasterClass, Zillow, Paramount+, ESPN+...
5. Which devices support SharePlay?
SharePlay works on all Apple devices running iOS 15, iPadOS 15, or macOS Monterey (12.0) and above. Whether you're using an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you can activate this feature in your FaceTime calls.
However, according to information received by Mytour, SharePlay feature will not be available in the iOS 15 update. For more details, you can refer to the article below.
