SharePlay

New entertainment experiences launching with Apple Vision Pro on February 2 should be dazzling, as users can turn any space into a personal theater, enjoy more than 150 3D movies and experience “the future of entertainment” with Immersive Video, Apple said Tuesday.

“Apple Vision Pro is the ultimate entertainment device,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. “Users can turn any place into the best seat in the house, enjoy personal concerts and adventures with Apple Immersive Video, interact with lifelike prehistoric creatures in Encounter Dinosaurs, and even land on the surface of the moon using Environments. It’s unlike anything users have ever seen before and we can’t wait for them to experience it for themselves.”

Sharing your contact information and more with people will get easier with new AirDrop functionality in iOS 17. A new feature called NameDrop makes it about as simple as knocking iPhones together.

“Today, you either hand your phone to them, or one of you dictates your information while the other types it. Now there’s a better way,” said Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi during Monday’s WWDC23 keynote. “Now you can just bring your phones close together.”

YouTube will soon get support for SharePlay, as well as videos with higher bitrates. And queuing up videos and jumping between devices will get easier, too.

The enhancements are part of Google efforts to get more subscribers for YouTube Premium.

Hulu today joined the list of third-party video streaming services that offer SharePlay support on iPhone and iPad.

Its latest app update gives viewers the ability to enjoy movies and TV shows with their friends over FaceTime while everyone stays in sync. It also adds the ability to easily switch between channels for Live TV users.

Searching for a new house with someone who’s not right next to you just got a lot easier. The Zillow app on iPhone or iPad now supports SharePlay, so multiple people can look at the same home listings simultaneously on different devices.

Use it with loved ones or your real estate agent.

Disney+ just got a new update that adds SharePlay support on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. The feature allows up to 32 people to get together and watch the same TV shows and movies simultaneously over FaceTime.

SharePlay is available across content from all Disney brands, including Marvel, National Geographic, Star Wars, and more. But you’ll need a device running iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, or tvOS 15.1 to take advantage of it.

macOS 12.1, the first major update to Monterey, went out Monday. The major new feature is SharePlay, but there are some other enhancements. But it does not include the much-anticipated Universal Control.

It comes on the same day as the release of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2 and watchOS 8.3.

Developers got access to the macOS 12.1 release candidate on Tuesday. This means beta testing of the new Monterey version is almost over, and Mac users will soon be able to start playing with SharePlay. But there’s still no sign of the much anticipated Universal Control feature.

Apple also seeded release candidates for iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2 and watchOS 8.3 to developers.

Apple seeded macOS 12.1 beta 4 to developers on Wednesday. It has a build number that ends in “a,” which suggests the public release is only a week or two away. This version of Monterey will bring SharePlay to the Mac. It might also be the debut of the much anticipated Universal Control.

It is not accompanied by fresh betas of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2 or watchOS 8.3.

The newest Twitch update for iPhone and iPad adds SharePlay support on iOS and iPadOS 15.1. The feature allows users to watch synchronized streams together over FaceTime, but all participants must have Twitch installed.

Twitch is one of the first third-party platforms to adopt SharePlay, which made its debut in October after it missed the initial iOS 15 rollout.

Developers just got their hands on macOS 12.1, the initial major update to Monterey. It’s Apple’s first opportunity to test features missing from macOS 12, like SharePlay and Universal Control.

But the beta is so new it’s not yet clear whether these features are in it yet.

Apple Fitness+ added group workouts and meditation sessions Monday, letting users communicate in real time with up to 32 other people. The new capability taps FaceTime’s new SharePlay feature, which works on iOS devices now and comes to macOS Monterey later this fall.

“It’s a really fun way to connect with friends and family, even trade some words of encouragement or friendly smack talk, while also making progress toward closing their rings,” said Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies, in a press release.

Mac users can now upgrade to macOS Monterey. This new version offers improvements to Safari and FaceTime, and new Focus mode. But two of its biggest features — Universal Control and SharePlay — won’t debut until later.

It’s free to download and install on all compatible computers.

The anticipated SharePlay feature in FaceTime syncs up TV shows, movies, music and more across devices so people can experience them together. But the features in upcoming beta releases and the major official OS 15 updates this fall won’t include it, Apple told developers today.

People who use the video-streaming app Twitch can now join the platform’s “Watch Parties” on iOS and Android devices, according to a tweet sent out Friday.

Focused since its launch on bringing people together to watch and comment on video gameplay, Twitch also does drama and comedy. Its Watch Parties let Twitch users stream Amazon Prime content.

iOS 15 just made the jump from rumor to reality. Apple is bringing major new features to FaceTime, Messages, notifications, and more. Many of the applications that come bundled with iPhone are getting updates, like Apple Maps and Weather.

However, some features people had been hoping for didn’t make the cut, like interactive widgets.