Watch Netflix together when apart with Showgoers

With this Chrome extension, you can sync Netflix shows with faraway friends.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor

Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.

Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms

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Matt Elliott

Aug. 31, 2015 9:29 a.m. PT

Some nights, you just want to curl up on the couch with someone and watch Netflix. For those nights when your couch and that someone's couch aren't under the same roof, there is Showgoers. It's a Chrome extension that lets you watch Netflix together when the two of you are apart.

To use Showgoers, each viewer needs to have the Chrome extension installed and be signed into their Netflix account. To share a movie or show, click the Showgoers button in the upper-right corner -- it looks like a pair of old 3D glasses. (Don't worry, this button disappears when Netflix's playback controls disappear.) Next, click Start a Sync Session, which will give you a link to share. Email this link to your friend and click the Begin Sync button to start your show. When your friend clicks on the link you sent, a new tab will open in Chrome with your show playing.

While are are watching a synched show, you can send messages via Showgoers. A text banner with your message will appear for a few seconds at the top of the screen. And when someone pauses the show for, say, a quick bathroom break, the show is paused for everyone.

(Via WonderHowTo)

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