How to listen to music or watch movies & TV shows together with your friends over FaceTime

Learn how to use SharePlay to listen to music or watch movies & TV shows together with your friends over FaceTime on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac.

SharePlay in the FaceTime app on iPhone

With Apple’s SharePlay feature, you can share your device screen as well as listen to music or watch movies & TV shows together with your friends over FaceTime. Here’s how to do that and have a virtual music or movie party.

What you can do

  • Listen to songs together in Apple Music, Spotify, and other supported apps.
  • Watch movies, TV shows, sports, and other videos in the Apple TV app, ESPN, and supported apps.
  • Control the playback for everyone on that FaceTime call.

What you need

Besides a friend or family member with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you and the person on the FaceTime call must fulfill these conditions:

  • The iPhone, iPad, or Mac should be on iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, or macOS Monterey 12.1 or later.
  • The supported app you want to use with FaceTime SharePlay must be installed on both devices.
  • If the app requires a subscription, then you and the person on the other side of the call must have a subscription (or free trial) of that app.

How to start SharePlay from the FaceTime app

1) Open the FaceTime app and make a video call.

2) When the call is connected, tap the Share Content button and choose an app. Here, you will see all the installed apps on your device that support SharePlay. Pick one. For this tutorial, I’m going with Apple TV.

3) Play a movie or show in the Apple TV app and tap SharePlay from the popup when asked.

SharePlay content via FaceTime on iPhone

4) Now, your friend will get a notification on their device asking to Join SharePlay. Once they hit Open > Join SharePlay, the same content will be played on both devices.

Join FaceTime SharePlay

Besides the playback, the FaceTime video call will remain active, and you both can keep talking. If its causing obstructions, swipe the camera feed to the edge of the screen to hide it and enjoy the video on full screen.

Start SharePlay from individual apps

Some apps like Apple Music and Apple TV also support initiating a FaceTime call with SharePlay from inside that app. Here’s how to use that:

1) Play a song in the Music app and go to the Now Playing screen. Tap the three dots icon and choose SharePlay.

SharePlay from iPhone Music app

For the Apple TV app, go to the movie or show you and your friends want to watch. (Don’t pick anything under Continue Playing.) From here, tap the share button and choose SharePlay.

SharePlay from iPhone Apple TV app

2) Search your buddy’s name or pick it from Suggested and tap FaceTime.

3) Once your friend picks up your call, tap Start on your screen to start SharePlay.

Start SharePlay in app

4) Finally, your friend will have to tap Open > Join SharePlay to launch that app (Music or TV) and now both can watch the same video or listen to the same song.

Start a SharePlay session by bringing two iPhones very close

When your friend is far away, your only option is to start SharePlay via the above steps. However, if your friend or partner is nearby, you can hold both iPhones running iOS 17 close together and initiate a SharePlay session. Here’s how:

1) Open an app that supports SharePlay on your iPhone and tap the content you want to enjoy together. I’m using Apple TV and SharePlaying Ted Lasso.

2) Now unlock the other iPhone and hold it very close to the top part of your iPhone until you get the SharePlay screen.

Bringing two iPhones near to start SharePlay

3) Tap SharePlay on your iPhone.

Tap SharePlay on iPhone

4) It will send a SharePlay request on the other iPhone. Tap Open and then tap Join SharePlay.

Join SharePlay on iPhone

Now, both of you can watch or listen to the same content in sync on your respective devices.

If you can’t start a SharePlay session with another iPhone user via this method, ensure each other’s contact details (Apple ID phone number or email address) are saved on the respective iPhones. Secondly, make sure Bringing Devices Together is enabled on both devices from iOS 17 Settings > General > AirDrop.

End SharePlay for you or everyone

Method 1: From the playback screen, tap the Share Content button > End SharePlay. Now, select End for Everyone or End Only for Me.

You can also tap the green pill from the top of the iPhone or iPad screen to show the call tile or return to FaceTime. From here, tap the Share Content button > End SharePlay.

End SharePlay during FaceTime

Method 2: If SharePlay (like video playback) is happening in a picture-in-picture window, tap the X button and choose to end it for everyone or just for you. Besides the picture-in-picture window, you can also tap X on the video player screen inside the app and end SharePlay.

Method 3 (for Mac): Click the green SharePlay icon from the top menu bar. Take the pointer over the Currently Playing tile and hit X. Now, choose to end the shared playback for you or everyone.

End FaceTime SharePlay on Mac

Method 4: End the FaceTime call, which also stops the SharePlay session.

Rejoin SharePlay

If you ended SharePlay only for you, then it’s easy to rejoin the party anytime later as long as the FaceTime call wasn’t disconnected. To do that:

Tap the green pill from the top of the screen and tap Open next to Join SharePlay.

Join SharePlay after ending it on iPhone

Or, go to the FaceTime app and tap once on the screen to reveal all the controls. From here, tap Open next to Join SharePlay.

This will launch the relevant app and resume SharePlay from the same point where your friend is. You may rewind, but remember that it will also rewind the playback for your friend.

Replace existing SharePlay content

Suppose you’re watching a video with your friend over FaceTime SharePlay, but now you both decide to listen to some tunes. To do that, just open the Music app and play the song. It will show a banner to replace what’s currently playing. Tap Replace Existing.

Replace Existing SharePlay on iPhone

Send SharePlay content to your Apple TV

If you’re watching a video via SharePlay on your iPhone, you can choose your Apple TV as the playback destination by opening the iPhone Control Center > tapping the AirPlay button, and choosing your Apple TV.

You can also do this by tapping the AirPlay icon from inside the concerned app (like the iPhone TV app). After this, the video playback will happen on your Apple TV while you can stay connected on FaceTime on your iPhone.

AirPlay SharePlay from iPhone to Apple TV via Control Center

Automatic SharePlay

After you use SharePlay for the first time with a person using a particular app, your iPhone remembers it and can automatically start SharePlay and join SharePlay sessions with those people when you’re on FaceTime.

It can be handy, but you have the control to manage this from the Settings app > FaceTime > SharePlay and turn off the switch for an app under SharePlay Automatically.

SharePlay settings on iPhone

Turn off SharePlay

Go to Settings > FaceTime > SharePlay and toggle off the switch for SharePlay. After this, the Share Content button inside the FaceTime app will be grayed out.

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