Sunday, September 22, 2024
Daily TipsiPadiPhone

How to use ShareTime in iOS 15, iPadOS 15 or later

With SharePlay, everyone can watch movies and TV shows in sync in a FaceTime call. Or you can uuse SharePlay to watch the shared video on your big screen while you continue the FaceTime call on your iPhone. 

To use SharePlay on an iPhone or iPad with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or later. To use it on an Apple TV set-top box, make sure it’s running the latest version of tvOS.

To start a movie or TV show in a FaceTime call

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, start a FaceTime call.
  2. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the FaceTime call, then open a video streaming app that supports SharePlay. 
  3. Choose a movie or TV show, and press play. If prompted, tap SharePlay.

Playback controls are shared by everyone watching, so anyone can play, pause, rewind, or fast forward. Changing settings like closed captioning and volume will affect your device only. 

To join a watch session in a FaceTime call

  1. In a FaceTime call, tap Open next to Join SharePlay.
  2. After the video streaming app opens, tap Join SharePlay.
  3. To return to the FaceTime call, tap the picture in picture tile on top of the video streaming app.

If you don’t have access to the content, you’ll be asked to get access through a subscription, a purchase, or a free trial, if it’s available.

Use SharePlay to watch content together on your Apple TV

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, start a FaceTime call.
  2. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the FaceTime call, then open a video streaming app that supports SharePlay. 
  3. Choose a movie or TV show, and press play.
  4. On your Apple TV Remote, press and hold TV/Control Center to open Control Center on Apple TV. 
  5. At the top of Control Center, select your user. If you’re using someone else’s Apple TV or if you can’t select your user for a different reason, use AirPlay to stream video to your Apple TV. 
  6. Select SharePlay.
  7. Select Start on Apple TV. Confirm on your iPhone or iPad.

Playback controls are shared by everyone watching, so anyone can play, pause, rewind, or fast forward. Changing settings like closed captioning and volume will affect your device only. 

How to end a SharePlay session on Apple TV

  1. Press and hold TV/Control Center on your Apple TV Remote to open Control Center on your Apple TV.
  2. Select SharePlay.
  3. Select Stop SharePlay.

(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages.)

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.