Amazon Prime Video has become the latest subscription streaming video service to add a co-watching experience.
The company is currently beta testing the feature, which supports chat with up to 100 people and doesn’t require a plug-in. The feature is currently available on desktop browsers (except Safari). Amazon said other devices including Fire TV, smart TVs, game consoles, connected media players, mobile phones and tablets are currently not supported.
The feature is currently only available in the U.S. to Prime Video subscribers.
RELATED: Hulu tests Watch Party social viewing feature
Hulu is also currently testing a similar feature on Hulu.com for its Hulu (No Ads) subscribers. The feature, which is also called Watch Party, is compatible with PCs and Macs on Hulu compatible browsers, no plug-in or extension needed.
Users who have access to the test can launch the experience through the “Watch Party” icon found on the Details pages of shows and movies from Hulu’s on-demand streaming library. They will then be given a link to invite their family and friends (up to eight people total) to join.
Hulu is not the first streaming service to dabble in social features. Earlier this year, Netflix Party launched as a way for users to watch together using a Google Chrome plug-in and HBO joined Scener, an online video chat tool that allows users to log into different streaming services and watch together.
Last year, Philo, a live streaming TV service, said that it was internally testing a co-viewing feature for live and on-demand content. In 2018, Plex, a multimedia platform, launched a VR viewing feature that allows users watch in a virtual drive-in movie theater and allows them to co-watch in real-time with up to four Plex users, as well as to talk with them via voice chat.