Years ago, many long-distance couples were already in agreement over Skype and similar video calling applications to watch movies and television series at the same time. However, the pandemic has caused this to go from being a Romance peculiarity to becoming a more common practice than we would like. Hence, many platforms, both streaming and videoconferencing, are putting the batteries to facilitate as much as possible this way of consuming content as a couple, family or friends. In this post we will explain everything you need to know to use SharePlay in your Disney Plus sessions.
Requirements to use FaceTime SharePlay with Disney +
There are three basic requirements that you will need to be able to share episodes of television and movie beings through FaceTime video calls using the SharePlay function.
- A Disney Plus account that has an active subscription. You can subscribe from the application itself or through the Disney + website. This requirement is necessary for each of the users participating in the video call.
- A compatible device . The list of Apple devices that support this version are the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV with iOS, iPad OS or tvOS in version 15.1 or higher . The requirement must be met for all members of the video call. Otherwise, SharePlay will not work properly.
- The latest version of the Disney + app downloaded and installed on both Apple devices.
How to start and share the session with Disney +
The steps you have to follow are the same whether you use an iPhone as if you use the iPad. You will have to perform the steps on one of these devices even if you finally want to send the screen to your Apple TV .
Using iPhone or iPad
To start the SharePlay session, one of the members of the video call must initiate the process to play the Disney Plus content. The step by step is as follows:
- Make a FaceTime call to any friend or family member who has a compatible device that we mentioned in the list of requirements.
- Make a gesture by sliding your finger from the bottom edge of the device upwards. This will allow you to open another application through multitasking . Now open the Disney + app .
- Browse the catalog and find the movie or TV series you want to share. Once located, click on «View» .
- If SharePlay not activated automatically, please click now on “SharePlay” . The request will automatically be sent to the other participant in the video call.
- If you want to view content on TV instead of mobile device, follow the steps to follow on Apple TV .
Using an Apple TV
To play the content on the TV, we will need an Apple TV device that meets the compatibility requirements. If we have it, we will have to do the following steps:
- Use the Apple TV Remote to open the Apple TV Control Center . To do this, press down the “TV / Control Center” button on the remote.
- At the top of the Control Center, click on your username .
- Then select the SharePlay option .
- Then select the option “Start on Apple TV . “
- Go back to the iPhone or iPad to confirm the operation .
How to join a Disney + SharePlay session
Join with iPhone or iPad
- Once you are in the FaceTime call, touch the Open option and enter “Join SharePlay . “
- Your Disney Plus app will automatically open . At this point, if you want to play the video on your Apple TV, continue with the point “Join with Apple TV ” that you will see a little later in this guide.
- Wait for the person who started the video call to accept you.
- Once inside, when you want to return to the video call, touch the picture-in-picture box at the top of the screen.
Join with Apple TV
Finally, the steps are the same as those that we have explained a few paragraphs above for the one who creates the SharePlay session. Simply open the Apple TV Control Center , go to SharePlay , hit Start on Apple TV, and confirm on your iOS or iPadOS device. Once that is done, you will have completed the process and you will be able to watch the shared session on your home television.
Disney + and SharePlay limitations
These are the considerations to keep in mind in terms of limitations.
How many people can share a SharePlay session with Disney +?
SharePlay supports a maximum of 32 users per conference. However, each streaming service can set its own limitations. The number of screens may be limited depending on the membership we have paid for. In the specific case of Disney +, we can connect a total of four devices at the same time to play content from the platform.
Can I share content with people who live in other countries?
It is quite common that there are differences in the catalogs of the streaming services of different countries or regions. In this case, the same will happen. If we share a SharePlay session with users who do not live in the same country, it is possible that the content we want to reproduce is not available in one of the two regions .
In that case, when a user wants to enter a SharePlay session that does not have the content available in their region, they will be notified that, indeed, they cannot access said content. There is no official way to bypass this restriction, but as many users will know, you can usually bypass this obstacle by using a VPN service. The problem is that, in this case, we would absolutely need a paid service to guarantee the quality of the call and avoid delay .
Child accounts
Child accounts do not have permissions to create SharePlay calls . If, with adult supervision, we want our children to use this function, we will have to carry out the process with a standard profile of the platform, which does not have parental limitations or anything like that. Obviously, with common sense and with knowledge of who else is going to be on the other end of the video call.
Mac computers
Unfortunately, although on any device with macOS we have the possibility of using FaceTime and SharePlay, we will not be able to use Disney + with this function on Apple computers yet. However, compatibility is expected to arrive at some point.
