Ever since the first lockdown a few years ago, the value of being able to watch TV and movies online with your friends without worrying about people being out of sync with each other has been repeatedly demonstrated.

Even when we're not under any restrictions, being able to watch together with people far away is really nice, and it's something that's well-catered for by an excellent browser extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge - Teleparty. Here's how to use it with Netflix and other streaming services.

How to use Teleparty

There are some key facts you need to know about Teleparty and how it works before you get started. Firstly, this is a Chrome and Edge extension, so it won't work on any other browsers. That means no Firefox, Safari or any others.

This has another knock-on effect - Teleparty will only work on a computer or a laptop, and won't therefore be compatible with your phone or smart TV. Still, you can always hook a laptop up to your TV so that you can still enjoy the big-screen experience.

To get started, each person that wants to be part of the watching party will need to add Teleparty to their browser, which you can easily do through the website here. The person whose Netflix account you'll be using then needs to set up a party.

They'll then be able to pick what everyone's watching, navigating to its page on Netflix then hitting the NP logo at the top right of your browser (which has been added by installing the extension).

This will let you create your Teleparty and kick things off. You'll be given a long, unique URL link that you can send to the other members of your Teleparty. As they click the link on a browser with the extension installed, they'll join the watch party and the attached text chat.

From there, the host can hit play to start the video, and they'll have control over it throughout. Each time an episode or movie ends, though, you'll have to start a new Teleparty.