Amazon extends Prime Video's Watch Party feature to Roku, smart TVs and more

Now it's easier and more convenient to watch Amazon Prime Video TV shows and movies remotely together with your friends. The service's "Watch Party" feature has received a much-needed expansion from the limited use cases it worked in before (on Fire TV devices, desktop web browsers, and the Prime Video mobile app) and is now compatible with non-Amazon streaming devices, smart TVs and Xbox/PlayStation game consoles. TechCrunch first reported on the expansion.

Watch Party allows up to 100 people with a Prime subscription to watch content at the same time. The host can play, pause, skip, and fast-forward or rewind for the group, and everyone can chat about what they're watching.

For now, Amazon's Watch Party feature remains available only in the US "An error message is displayed if you are using a VPN," Amazon notes in its FAQ. Everyone shares access to content that can be streamed for free with a Prime subscription. But if you prefer to watch a movie that can only be rented, everyone has to do it individually. Watch Party does not support live events (such as Thursday Night Football), Amazon Prime Video Channels, or Freevee (formerly known as IMDBtv).

While many of these group viewing experiences came about amid COVID-19 lockdowns, Amazon began testing Watch Party in 2019 through its Twitch service. Hulu offers a similar feature under the same name, Disney Plus offers GroupWatch, and streaming TV apps like Sling TV have also joined.