Is it possible to add SharePlay support on iOS 15 etc? Would be so great to share viewing with friends and relatives remotely.
Is it even feasible?
Devs will have to confirm for sure but I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s likely tied to the system player, which Channels doesn’t use.
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I don’t think it is because you can do shared sketches and things too
iOS 15.1 (and tvOS 15.1) just came out today: Apple Releases tvOS 15.1 for Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K With SharePlay Support - MacRumors
I note that my 2nd favorite iOS app, Apollo for Reddit, updated today with SharePlay integration. Pretty cool stuff!
It would be absolutely amazing if we could do the same with video from Channels, FaceTime with family and friends while watching a show or movie in sync. Especially these days...
Sure, but that's what was said about PIP at one point, too.
We haven’t looked at SharePlay yet, but it’s unlikely it’s anything we can support.
Things like this rely on centralized servers of content and that’s the exact opposite of how Channels is designed.
We have a big release coming up and have been focused on those features. When things slow down we’ll take a peek.
Adopting features this early is not how we like to do things though. We like to see how they play out first. As you can see, SharePlay didn’t even make the cut for iOS 15’s release.
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Fair enough, that makes total sense. Thanks for the eventual consideration 
I looked into it a bit a couple of weeks ago for an app I'm working on. It is completely tied to FaceTime which ruled it out for me.
Essentially you have to have a live FaceTime call underway before you can then initiate shareplay. It doesn't have to be media playback, so other options exist, but being tied to FaceTime probably rules it out here too.
Just curious why the FaceTime requirement would rule it out? That's Apple's real-time videoconferencing solution and the point of SharePlay is to share content while videoconferencing. What else were you hoping for?
It’s all a part of FaceTime according to iOS. You initiate the sharing while in a FaceTime session.
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Yep, I understand. A friend and I played around with it a bit today. I was wondering why SharePlay's reliance on Facetime would be a dealbreaker for RobinImp's app though. What else is out there to use instead? But then again I don't know anything about their particular app. There are a few "synchronized watch party" solutions out there, but most are browser-based and poorly supported. I've used Movies Together via Movies Anywhere extensively and its AppleTV app works great, but doesn't integrate calls or videoconferencing, so any kind of communication, aside from a few emojis, are handled on a completely separate app and device (with slight echo without headphones.)
Anyway, SharePlay on iOS 15 works pretty well but as you mentioned, it has significant limitations. We enjoyed it with TV+. As long as both parties have licensed access to the same content, via rental, purchase or subscription, it works great! It did not work on local content that I'd uploaded to the phone, nor did it work with media on my Mac that I'd enabled Home Sharing for, in order to stream on my phone. All of that was to be expected, but I wanted to check it out. Support is in there in Apollo now but the UI is a bit clunky and seems to only work with links and images. Screensharing worked great too, this will be a boon for tech supporters everywhere.
So I fully understand that this implementation wouldn't work with the way Channels is designed. But happy to have supported the suggestion! Maybe one day...
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Please do. Shareplay would make Channels "Next Level" for me and my family.
Any more thoughts on integrating Shareplay? Or something similar?