Disney+ is rolling out GroupWatch to all U.S. subscribers

What you need to know

• Disney+ has brought its new GroupWatch feature to the United States.
• This allows you to watch a movie or TV show with up for 6 friends (for a total of 7 concurrent participants).
• While watching, you can share reaction emoji which will appear on the screen.

Being able to get together for movie night is getting less and less possible these days, and so I'm pleased as punch to see that after being tested in a few other market, Disney Plus has finally rolled out its group watching feature, called GroupWatch. This gives you the ability to share out a link to friends and family and then watch your intended TV show or movie synchronized even if you're hundreds of miles away.

Similar features have been rolled out other streaming services like Movies Anywhere in recent months, and the feature is very similar on Disney+. A new group symbol now appears next to the Watchlist icon on every Disney+ title, and when you click it, you can launch a new GroupWatch. You can then invite friends and family members through a link that can be shared through text or your favorite social/messaging platform, and once they join the GroupWatch, you can start the movie.

While the movie plays, you can use the GroupWatch screen on your phone or laptop to share reaction emoji to the video as it progresses, and the emoji appears on everyone's movie along with the name of the person who shared it. There's only 6 emoji you can share right now, but I'm hopeful more options will roll out as time goes on.

You can only have one GroupWatch on your profile at a time, so if you start a GroupWatch with some family, lose interest, and then go try to join a friend's DuckTales binge, you'll have to leave the first GroupWatch to join the second.