Video Chat While Watching Netflix and HBO With Scener
The other day I thought, “Damn, ever since I saw” Tron: Legacy “took forever. And then a friend found cyber suits for sale in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and said the same in our island chat. Our solution? Let’s take a look at Tron: Legacy together using a Chrome browser extension to simulate the effect of actually being in the same space at the same time.
Well, the scener won’t technically let me do that, as the great Tron sequel isn’t available on Netflix or HBO, and the extension only works with those two streaming services. But I’m going to install it anyway and use it for my shared viewing evenings. It just feels so good.
The extension is completely free to use (and even blessed by WarnerMedia by the HBO channel), so you don’t have to worry about it disappearing from the Internet because one of the streaming companies has a bad day. Installing it is as easy as installing any old Chrome extension: open the extension in the Chrome Web Store and create a new account in Scener with your name and email address.
From there, you click on the Scener icon in the Chrome toolbar and your pop-up cinema will have two parts – the main viewing section and the sidebar:
This screen is a little tedious because you have to create or join a “theater” – your little viewing room with friends – for the extension to do something. Click on the Create prompts until you are asked to choose Netflix or HBO (HBO Now and HBO Go at the moment; it is not yet known if Scener will work with the upcoming HBO Max ).
You will then need to log into the indicated service in the larger “theater” part of the Scener (left). You will then receive an invitation link and room code in the right sidebar. Share with your friends and choose something to watch. Once you start watching a movie or TV show, what you are watching will sync perfectly with your friends in your theater room.
Feel free to add sarcastic comments by shouting into your webcam microphone or, if you prefer, typing furiously into Scener’s built-in chat room. If you are tired of being a virtual projectionist, click the remote control button in the upper left corner of the live image to transfer it to someone else who will have full control over your viewing session:
That’s all. While Scener is n’t the only option for watching movies and videos at the same time with friends, it’s a solid fuss-free solution, and the chat box makes it a little more appealing than Vemos for Netflix and HBO fans, although this extension supports a lot more streaming sites.