Download Hulu Watch Party
Chieko Topalian
Hulu offers a Watch Party feature that allows all subscribers to simultaneously watch a show or movie while in a group chat room. While there are third-party services with similar features, this is a built-in way to stream Hulu with friends. Here's what you need to know.
Hulu's Watch Party feature allows you to chat with others in a shared group chat along with a stream of the video you're watching. Each participant can control their own playback. You can pause and then the "click to catch up" button to jump back to where the group is currently watching.
Both me and my girlfriend have ads on Hulu. We have been trying to use the watch party feature for an hour now, but the video is literally never in sync. It tells her that I have ad playing and pauses for her when I don't have an ad playing, and when she says she has an ad on her end my video keeps playing and doesn't pause like it is supposed to. And our video is always like 10 seconds off from each other.
For the next 10 days, both Hulu and Hulu (No Ads) users will be able to stream the Emmy-nominated comedy together with their peeps through a Pen15-branded Hulu Watch Party feature. In a special nod to fans of the show, the Watch Party experience will resemble a classic online chat room (remember those?), complete with screen names taken from the series. This aesthetic will only be available on watch parties for Pen15, so crack open a SURGE and get ready to stay up late chatting with your BFFs.
Back in March, the Google Chrome extension Netflix Party launched, which allowed you to watch content with your friends over the internet. What connected the viewers was a chatroom where everyone could talk to each other like you were in a AOL chatroom in 1996. The extension was a lot of fun and a great way to connect with people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, it was revealed Hulu was testing its own watch party feature with select subscribers, and it feels like a much more polished Netflix Party.
Hulu Watch Party isn't available for everyone to control. It is currently only available to Hulu (no ads) or Hulu (no ads) + Live TV subscribers, and that's to control it or to watch it with friends, which is one of two major drawbacks to this service. The other issue is that you need to be in a supported web browser--Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. Not everything is available for a Watch Party--including live TV or premium add-ons; however, searching through Hulu's catalog, we didn't find anything that couldn't be included in a Watch Party.
The person setting up the party selects something from Hulu's catalog. To the right of the "Play" button, there is another button that says "Watch Party" when you highlight it. You click that, get another prompt about Watch Party, then you get a link to share with friends. You can only share with seven other people, but do you really need more than eight people in a chatroom for a film? Again, everyone joining the party needs to have a Hulu (no ads) or Hulu (no ads) + Live TV account.
One interesting thing is that when the host of the party and the guests' streams are out of sync. Hulu Watch Party lets you know that you are out of sync with the option to sync-up with the host, instead of automatically doing it. This will come in handy if you have a host who accidentally clicks on the time bar or someone who wants to jump ahead to "the good parts." There are also a plethora of emojis to choose from on the chat bar.
It's very easy to use, and it exists within Hulu, so you don't need to add an extension. Most importantly, it's legal. While Hulu's new watch service and Netflix Party utilize every viewer's account to stream content, hosting parties through Zoom, Discord, or the many other extensions or programs only stream from one account, so there are legal issues, as GameSpot discussed with law professor at Cornell Tech and Law School James Grimmelmann. Hulu Watch Party is simple to set up and use, but you have to be in a higher-tier subscription and on your computer, but where else will you be able to watch Holey Moley with friends right now? It's probably not something you'll want to pay extra money a month for, but for those already in the no ads tier, this is a very nice addition to Hulu.
Hulu's no ad plan will cost you $12 a month--with Hulu's ad-supported subscription costing $6 a month. If you have the Live TV tier, which costs $55 a month, you'll have to upgrade to Live TV (no ads), which costs $61 a month. You can learn more about the tiers for the streaming service below if you're interested in hosting your own watch party.
Starting May 28, Hulu is beginning to test Watch Party, its first social feature that will let viewers watch titles together and chat in groups of up to eight people. The feature is currently available only on hulu.com for a select number of titles.
You'll need to purchase Hulu's live TV subscription package, called Hulu + Live TV. Using this service, you can watch live television on your desktop computer or laptop, smartphone, tablet, or TV if you have a compatible device. Go to Hulu.com to try a free trial of Hulu + Live TV.
You'll need a Hulu or Hulu + Live TV subscription with no ads to be able to download Hulu content to watch offline. To find downloadable content if you have an eligible subscription, go to Hulu's search feature and search for downloadable. Then, select the downloadable content you want. For a movie, select the download icon. For a TV show, select the Episodes tab and then select the download icon.
You'll need Hulu's ad-free plan to watch Hulu without ads. Visit the website for Hulu No Ads to start a free trial and view available add-ons. There are also plans for Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV if you want to watch live television with your Hulu package.
The Disney-owned streaming service launched Watch Party on Thursday, giving users a way to watch Hulu programming together while chatting about it. The good news is Watch Party works. The bad news is it needs a little more time to grow.
The more disappointing limitation with Watch Party is that you can't watch literally everything Hulu has to offer. Hulu told Mashable that "thousands" of titles support Watch Party, and after browsing the site for a while, there isn't a lack of great content to watch with friends. It only took a few minutes of scrolling through the home screen to find What We Do in the Shadows, Blazing Saddles, and Parasite, which are all good and beloved films I'd gladly watch with my pals.
The biggest complaint I can come up with regarding playback is that there isn't a way to universally pause the video. I haven't gotten a chance to test Watch Party with a large group yet, but when I paused Parasite while watching with a friend, it didn't pause the movie on their end.
If you're unfamiliar, a Hulu watch party is a way to watch Hulu live with others over the internet. There are a few ways to achieve this, so we've broken down the best ways to start watching Hulu together.
First off, watch parties are any online-only experience for your browser (no Hulu app support). Secondly, your Hulu subscription needs to be at the tier of Hulu (No Ads) or Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV.
Prior to the episode or movie ending, Hulu will also alert you that the watch party is ending soon. Sadly, you can't string together multiple episodes or movies, and you'll have to repeat the Watch Party for each instance.
For those willing to put in a little extra effort, Metastream also lets you watch Hulu together. To start using Metastream, visit the website. Before starting your session, Metastream requires an extension that you can install by following the on-screen prompts.
Once that's done, press the Add Media button or click the Plus sign in the Next Up box. From here, Metastream launches its own mini-browser window and offers some tips. It supports several streaming websites, so you'll need to press the Hulu button to host a Hulu watch party.
While Metastream provides cross-service streaming and customization at the cost of more legwork, Scener keeps things simple. After making an account, you can launch your Hulu watch party incredibly fast.
Most importantly, it's actually easy to keep the watch party going. If you want to watch multiple episodes in a row, you can do that. Or, if you decide you want to watch something else, you can go back to Hulu's hub and choose an alternative.
If you're interested in watching Hulu with others, its never been easier to host a Hulu party. Whether you're using an app to watch Hulu together or the official site, you can tailor your experience to who's watching.
Plus, once you've learned how to watch Hulu with friends, you can transfer that experience to other platforms. For example, here's how to host a Facebook watch party to start watching videos together, along with how to watch movies with friends virtually.
As streamers vie for more eyeballs, virtual watch parties are gaining traction. Over the last 12 months, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Sling all rolled out platforms enabling groups of people to watch shows and films at the same time.
One brisk Friday evening in January at around 9:30 p.m., 15-year-old Ella rushed down the stairs of her home in Stevenson Ranch, California with an announcement for her parents, who were watching "Lupin," a new Netflix series, in the living room.
Over the last 12 months, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Sling all rolled out virtual watch parties, enabling groups of people to watch shows and films at the same time. These features were in the works well before COVID-19 struck, but the pandemic spurred them to step up development.
Rolling out features like virtual parties is crucial in the battle for attracting and retaining users. According to a Deloitte survey published this month, 62% of people who signed up for a streaming service, did so to watch a specific show or film and canceled their subscription once they were done watching it. Features like virtual watch parties bring a social element into the equation that keep users engaged longer.