Meta Quest Introduces Co-Watching Feature for YouTube App
Meta Quest has unveiled a new co-watching feature for its YouTube app, allowing users to enjoy videos together in a virtual environment. The feature, currently in beta, enables up to eight people to simultaneously watch YouTube content on their Meta Quest devices.
To access this new functionality, users must ensure they have the latest version of the YouTube app installed on their Meta Quest headset. The co-watching experience is initiated by selecting the “Co-watch” icon, which resembles three grouped people, within the app. Users can then invite others to join their viewing session by choosing the “Invite people” option.
It’s important to note that only mutual followers can participate in co-watching sessions, adding a layer of privacy and security to the feature. However, the current iteration of co-watching is limited to 2D content and does not support 360-degree or VR videos.
Another limitation of the feature is that paid content requires individual purchases by each participant. This means that if a group wishes to watch a movie or other premium content together, each member must have access to the content.
Despite these constraints, the co-watching feature offers Meta Quest users a new way to engage in social VR experiences without the need to use Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform. This addition may also provide a more straightforward alternative to Apple’s Spatial Personas feature on the Vision Pro headset, potentially offering a less awkward social viewing experience.
As Meta continues to develop and refine this feature, it represents another step in the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance social interactions in virtual reality environments.
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