Quarantine Tech Tip: How to Stream Movies/Shows/Videos with Friends and Family Online (no matter how far apart you are!)
Hi, all! Coronavirus continues to sweep the world. One way to keep socializing with your friends and family is to stream content together online.
There’s a lot of different programs that allow you to watch things together in perfect synchronization, and to use text/voice chat while viewing. Some of the basic options include:
https://www.watch2gether.com/ - where you can enjoy Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, and Dailymotion content together, or shop together on Amazon using an integrated chat room. It creates an instant chat/viewing room without registration.
https://www.mycircle.tv/ - where you can watch things like YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, and possibly even twitch.tv together. It creates an instant chat/viewing room without registration. You can create a whole playlist of videos to watch.
https://www.netflixparty.com/ - an extension ONLY for Chrome, which allows you to sync up your Netflix viewing with others and message together while watching. The only downside is that you must have Netflix yourself for it to work, even if you’re just the one viewing. Another issue is that you have to create a new session for each episode you watch.
https://picarto.tv/ - where you can watch artists streaming as they screenshare and work on their projects. This is not optimized for viewing shows/movies together, but I wanted to add it because it’s fun to watch people draw and interact with artists!
But what about being able to sync up over content available on Netflix, Hulu, or even videos on your own computer desktop?
Over the last couple of days, some friends and I have been testing some of the more agile programs that allow you to have greater control over the websites you can share and the ways you can interact. Those programs include:
Kast: https://kast.gg/
TwoSeven: https://twoseven.xyz/
To stream content, both of these programs require that you 1) sign up with a free account, and 2) that you use certain technology to ensure it functions:
KAST
Kast is the new version of the old Rabbit app, available at: https://kast.gg/. You can watch movies with 100+ friends online while chatting through voice/video or text. There doesn’t appear to be a limit in terms of what you can watch through this. You can share:
Your entire screen
Any application window (website tabs, desktop programs, you name it--including Netflix and other streaming services that your viewers may not have while you do)
Your webcam
Other advantages:
Kast has several personalization features and supports a lot of languages.
You can invite people by sharing a link to your party room.
Your party room is automatically private, unless you change settings to make it fully public.
You can create multiple parties to enjoy things with different people.
You can add moderators, or kick/ban/block people.
You can access a list of other people’s public parties and search by tags to find content you want.
You can use emoji reactions in chat.
You have a lot of control over how to send or receive sound.
Their privacy policy is pretty expansive with lots of ways for you to contact them.
Kast has a help desk/troubleshooting site if you need it: https://kast.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Kast is very quick to show content (very little loading/buffering time)
Its app is optimized for either Windows or Mac.
You can download the app here (recommended): https://kast.gg/download.html
Or if you just want to view someone else’s stream, you can use the web version through a Chrome browser. If you are joining a stream, you may have to sit through a brief advertisement to gain access to the streaming room.
Kast caveats:
You have to be 13 years of age to sign up and use the app, according to Terms of Service: https://kast.gg/legal/Kast_Terms_of_Service.htm
Kast retains the right to use any of your posted content for its own self-promotion opportunities, according to its Terms of Service.
Kast screens/monitors content according to its Terms of Service, to ensure legal compliance.
Kast technical disadvantages:
You have to download the app to actively stream content. The web version does not support voice/video streaming—it just allows you to join other streams.
It might not be the most optimized for mobile use. (In testing, my friends and I struggled to get audio to work.)
You may experience some lag at random times. But in general, we had a very smooth, in-sync stream while watching most of a movie. It glitched only once and that was because the movie file itself had a glitch.
To get movie audio to play for others, your own audio settings as a streamer MUST be set to Computer Audio. So this means if you get pings on Discord, others can hear it. Ideally, you’d also want to use the text-chat function instead of voice while viewing, to avoid feedback issues.
Depending on your tech, you might experience a black-screen when trying to share something. This didn’t happen during our test while using the app and VLC Player/Youtube/Netflix, but Kast does have a troubleshooting section on their site: https://kast.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360006131691-Video-issues
TwoSeven
Another free streaming service is TwoSeven (or, 27), available at: https://twoseven.xyz.
TwoSeven is another very impressive service that is entirely based online (no app needed to stream). Once you sign up for a free account, you can easily create a room and stream content from a variety of places, including:
Youtube
Netflix
Amazon
HBO
VIMEO
Personal (files on your desktop)
Web
TwoSeven advantages:
Intuitive, simple interface that exists fully online (no downloadable app required)
Audio/text function works while viewing video content.
You can share your webcam.
Videos stream with high-quality picture.
You can toggle who is able to adjust video controls.
People who receive the link to your stream room do not need to sign up to use the interface.
TwoSeven caveats:
Minors (people under the age of 18) are prohibited in the Terms of Service from using this website.
The service reserves the right to use any of Your Content, according to the Terms and Conditions: https://twoseven.xyz/help/terms-and-conditions.html. I would assume most likely for promotion, but it’s silent on its purposes.
The website reserves the right to kick you for not complying with its rules, but it oddly doesn’t say how it would know. Odds are, it engages in some kind of monitoring/recording of content as well.
TwoSeven disadvantages:
You need to download an extension to get the website to work well with sharing online content outside of YouTube. Otherwise, you may be left in a permanent buffering purgatory.
It’s not optimized for sharing your computer screen; the Personal option requires that you upload a video to share, and the buffering for that can take several minutes.
It requires all users to have accounts on the streaming service that they're using. So if you want to watch Netflix together, each viewer will need an account (or a Netflix profile if your account supports multiple profiles).
It cannot bypass regional restrictions for video content.
We experienced an issue where audio was out of sync with visuals on longer files.
Some people experienced audio issues depending on their headset.
There is no option to make your streaming public. So you’d have to post the link in a public place to drive traffic to it.
It is not connected to any other streams, so you’re unable to join other streaming communities through TwoSeven.
Conclusion
There are always advantages or disadvantages to any service you use. I wanted to share all this to bring awareness to the possibilities, as well as their capabilities and limitations. Nothing’s ever perfect, lol. But I hope this information can help you all find the best streaming service for your interests/needs, and that streaming can help you stay connected with friends and family!
(Note: This post was made based off of personal experiences using the Kast and TwoSeven systems and others. I’m not under any incentive to market these programs, and I welcome anyone to correct or add to my suggestions. Some regions of the world may be unable to access these programs.)
Special thanks to @lunar-magnolia and @weebleswrites for helping me test and @crystal-rebellion for alerting me to the existence of TwoSeven.
Hi all, I know lots of people are struggling being at home all the time, I've been home on maternity leave since August and I wanted to share my 3 top tips for staying at home for a prolonged period of time. I know these wont work for everyone but I hope they can help some of you.
1. Get dressed in the morning. Pyjama days are great every now and then but for long periods you'll feel better if you get dressed in clean clothes every day.
2. Eat 3 meals a day. I always plan to have cereal within an hour of when I wake up, then lunch around 12 then dinner around 7pm.
3. Do not sit on your phone with it plugged in. If my phone is charging whilst I'm scrolling I could scroll forever, if I'm too far away from a power source to charge it then when it dies I'll actually have to get up to plug it in and most of the time getting up is the hardest part of finding motivation.
So, I am having a hard time keeping myself accountable for the tasks I need to accomplish. For example, I need to finish my semester and the more time I waste sitting around watching YouTube videos the worse off I’ll be by the time all twenty things are due all at once. Although my school has put in place a pass/ fail option for every student I would prefer to receive marks instead in order to boost my GPA but with the road, I am on it is more likely that my GPA will decrease and all my efforts would have been for not.
Stressful banter aside, I’m sure a lot of us are feeling the same way in the light of this global quarantine. weather it is about school, work or just the depression of being stuck in one place for so long. I am not trying to provide a solution to the problem but instead to convey my own situation and what I am trying to do about it. I hope that this will be a fun way to express myself and get back into the fun world that is Tumbler (it’s been a while).
The first thing I did to get myself back on track was to mentally organize what I need to do. I culled through all my emails from professors and updated the deadlines of my papers and exams. Giving myself a clear visual on when the deadlines are, helps keep me from getting too comfortable in my cocoon of isolated comfort and holds me accountable for the usage of my time.
Next, I went into my own mind palace and had a heart to heart with every core facet of my personality [like Sander Sides] and wrote down my goals and priorities. Easily with the time, we have each part of me had something they want to do, from the many projects I have to the skills I want to maintain and the academic feats I want to achieve. Each one of these is ambitious and requires discipline. Discipline that I do not have at the moment. So, with all this in mind, I decided that the best course of action was to make a list. A long list.
First, I have my daily tasks;
Then I have my tasks for every second day, Twice a week, Once a week and finally Bi-weekly.
Then I put all that in an undated calendar template...
Finally, after ALL that, I made 14 individual cards describing the tasks needed to be accomplished every day for two weeks. These cards are nice and small so I can keep them in my pocket just in case I need to remind myself what else must be done.
So far, I’ve been using this system for 3 days now. I have yet to finish everything on the list I one day, but I am getting closer every day and that’s something. In addition to the lists, I have schoolwork to finish so it is diffidently a lot to ask of myself to finish every task right off the bat each day. I am doing a good job though. At least I think I am. I just need to keep progressing every day and I will get there. Just until this whole situation is done and then I can emerge from this quarantine with some new and useful habits.
How many "Weak-Tie" friends do you have? IT MATTERS.
How many “Weak-Tie” friends do you have? IT MATTERS.
Walking around my neighborhood, early in the pandemic lockdown, I noticed people wanted to talk. Even though staying a distance away, they were more friendly, stopping to chat, than pre-Covid19. It seems there is an important reason for the casual chat. While close friends are also important, research is showing that more casual or “weak-tie” friends offer some different benefits.Weak Tie…
We’re all in this together. Relax. Stay well. Stay safe. Now, I’ve finally got my voice back (sort of), I’m sharing a few thoughts on how I get through working at home, and and tips for surviving isolation. Hugs to you all
