Hulu Party | 8 Ways to Watch Hulu Together with Friends
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Hulu might be a streaming service but you can do much with this platform. For instance, you could have a virtual movie marathon with your friends, all logging in on Hulu and watching the same movies, at the same time. With virtual meetings and gatherings becoming a trend, Hulu party is one more way to connect with friends and enjoy your favorite movies or TV shows together.
Hulu comes in different subscription plans. You can choose the standalone service at $5.99 per month. The no ads plan comes at $11.99 per month. Hulu with Live TV is priced at $64.99 per month. Finally, you can also choose Hulu service in a package bundle whereby it comes with Disney Plus and ESPN plus. Once you are a member, then it is easy to choose from the many titles that this platform has to offer.
1. What's a Hulu Watch Party?
This is a unique feature that Hulu offers. With the Hulu Watch Party feature, there can be up to eight people watching movies and shows virtually, at the same time. For friends who have not met up for long, the next best thing is to watch Hulu with friends. Indeed, if you are working from home, one way to unwind in the evenings is to host a Hulu party. This feature is available in the standard membership as well as in the premium membership plan as well. So, no matter which one of the Hulu plans you have subscribed to, you can use this feature.
2. How to Use Hulu's Watch Party Feature?
If you wish to watch Hulu together it is a feature that you can initiate or join through certain web browsers that Hulu supports. That includes browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. Once you log in you can watch any title among the thousands of Hulu shows and movies that are available through the streaming library of Hulu. You can also check the eligibility of a show or a movie that is available under the Hulu party feature.
Hulu party is mentioned as a feature next to titles that are eligible. It is shown as a circular icon marked Watch Party. However, you cannot watch add-on content that is premier or live TV with this sharing service.
Steps to start Hulu Watch Party are as follows:
- Visit the website Hulu.com on a web browser.
- Log in using your subscription details.
- Find a title that has this feature; look for the icon that will show up next to the titles.
- Select the ‘Watch Party’ symbol on the details page.
- Click on the Start Watching button.
When in playback mode select the chain icon. This will copy the link to Hulu Watch Party. You can then send it to those who you wish to invite to watch at the same time.
You could also join a watch party that is initiated by another. In order to do so, you receive a link sent by the host. Hence, in the Hulu Watch Party feature, you could be the invitee or the host. One can also ask others sharing the same account, to join.
3. Alternatives to Hulu Watch Party
If you wish to watch Hulu with friends there are different ways to do so, besides using the Hulu Watch Party feature. Here we discuss the different methods by which you can do so.
3.1 Teleparty: Watch Hulu Together with Friends
Hulu party is not the only way to watch movies and shows together with friends. Teleparty is an app, formerly called Netflix Party that does pretty much what Hulu party can do for you. The app can get you connected on shows from HBO, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Netflix. You need to have an account to use it.
Hulu Watch Party features are similar to what you get on Netflix Party. Chrome extension of the app supports shows from HBO, Hulu, and Disney Plus as well. Once you install the Chrome extension, you need to navigate to a streaming service as per your choice. After that do the following:
- Simply click on the corner of the extension.
- This starts a room.
- From here you can send out links.
- Teleparty has a group chat option as well; here you can choose avatars of your own.
- Depending on the current status of servers, you can have as many as 50 people in the room.
3.2 Zoom: Start a Hulu Watch Party and Ask Friends to Join You
There is another way to watch Hulu with friends, using Zoom. This app has seen widespread usage since the pandemic restricted most classes and offices to virtual classrooms and workplaces. Hulu Watch Party is something that you can use, combining the screen sharing feature of Zoom. Another added benefit is that Zoom is free for usage. The screen sharing feature allows users to watch the best movies on Hulu with a maximum of up to 100 people.
Setting up your Zoom account is easy. Its core software is designed for business usage. Here are the steps that you need to follow in order to create an account on this platform and share a screen for watching movies with friends:
- Visit the official website of Zoom.
- Find the link to create a new account.
- If using it on your mobile, download the application first.
- Once the account is created, sign in through the app.
- Click on the option called ‘New Meeting’.
- Here you will also get an option to select the screen you wish to share; this can be your web browser as well.
- Visit the link called ‘Invite’; send across invitations to all friends who are using the same method.
Friends with whom you wish to share a Hulu Watch Party will have to download the Zoom application. There are ways to chat using text through Zoom. You could also chat using the audio feature, with your friends. However, the video quality on Zoom might not be ideal and you might notice buffering issues.
3.3 Metastream: Stream the Same Hulu Party Movies with Friends
Hulu party can happen using Metastream as well. This is an app that can sync different platforms. With this app, you can sync as many participants as you want. Hence, if you wish to have the Hulu Watch Party experience you can do so using this platform. It allows many participants on a Hulu account to watch the same show or movie, together at the same time.
However, before using the service everyone who you wish to add to the Hulu party feature needs to have an account of their own. There are several bundles available such as the Hulu Disney Plus bundle or the live TV and Hulu package. You could also take up the service as a standalone. Also, if one of your friends is new to Hulu, tell them to take the trial service to get started.
Steps to use ‘Meta Stream’ are as follows:
- Log in to your Hulu account.
- Visit getmetastream.com.
- Create user credentials in the welcome screen.
- Click to get started.
- Select the option to start a session.
- Click on the option called ‘Add Media’.
- Here you will find Hulu from a list of several choices.
- Find the show you wish to watch.
- Click on play and select ‘Add to the Session’.
- Click on Invite through which you can send across links to friends to join your session.
While the party is ongoing you can chat with friends as well. It is possible to list the session as private or public. It then sets a limit for attendees as well.
3.4 Kast: Invite Friends to Join a Hulu Watch Party
There is another way to watch Hulu together. That is by using Kast, also known as ‘rabb.it’. It is an application that offers remote watching functionality. It is similar in certain aspects to Discord and works with screen sharing. Simply download the Kast app and get it working. It might not work well on Mac computers, however.
Kast could also prove to be resource-intensive, slowing down computers. However, simply switch off other windows or apps when you are hosting through this platform.
There are easy functionalities as well such as watching and chatting on the same window. It also has a generous spectator limit, up to 100. That makes it great when you plan to host a virtual party with many friends.
Steps to start using ‘Kast’ are as follows:
- Download the ‘Kast’ app.
- Create an account and then log in.
- Click on the link to create a party.
- Find the link ‘Join Party’ under the ‘My Parties’ section.
- Click on the camera symbol at the bottom.
- Choose which screen you wish to share.
- Load Hulu account and play a video of your choice.
You need to allow a microphone in the settings option. Click on the orange button saying Invite Friends which provides a link for sending to friends. They in turn will need to download software. There is a web app available as well with which it is easy to watch via web browser on a computer.
3.5 Discord: Watch Hulu Movies with Friends When Not in Gaming Mode
If you wish to watch Hulu with friends Discord is another platform to do so from. It is more than a gaming platform through which you can watch Hulu together.
Hulu party can be set up with Discord as well. Even if you are a non-gamer it is a popular app to communicate. You will find this service available as an app for different platforms such as iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. You can also visit it on the website. The key to using Discord, especially if you wish to watch Hulu together with friends, is to choose ‘Go Live’ as the feature. Discord uses screen sharing which is a feature integrated into the app. It allows you to broadcast a channel of your choice and stream it to friends. Hence, all you need is a single Hulu account to start sharing.
The ‘Go Live’ feature here allows users to share the screen with dozens and through a voice channel. The feature has a sharing limit of up to 10. However, in recent times it has increased the limit up to 50 people. It has been increased due to the increasing trend of virtual meetings and gatherings.
If you wish to create an account with Discord you can do so with the following steps:
- Visit the Discord interface and click on the plus button on left; here you can create the server of your choice.
- Under server, listing click on the plus button which is smaller, which creates a voice channel.
- In another window open up Hulu.
- Click on the icon ‘Go Live’ in the bottom left.
- The select screen of the window you wish to share.
- Next to the voice channel click on the “Create Invite” button; this enables you to share invites with friends.
Once the above steps are done make sure that Hulu is streaming in another open window. Then you would be broadcasting a show that you wish to watch with friends. When you use the Discord app you can also chat with your friends. Everyone can watch on the screen that you share.
3.6 Squad: Watch Hulu Movies with Friends That Are Not Hulu Subscibers
Squad is a browser-based screen-sharing application that you can use to watch Hulu movies, shows and the exclusive Hulu originals with anyone, and the most amazing thing is that it doesn’t require everyone to be a Hulu subscriber. Refer to the steps below to share your playback screen of the Hulu movie you are watching with your friends:
- When your video starts playing, click the icon on the far left of the screen.
- Follow the voice prompt to pick which tab want to share.
To be noted: You can invite up to 9 persons to watch the Hulu movie with you in one room.
4. Download Hulu Videos to Watch Together with Friends Offline
The last which is also the ultimate solution to watch Hulu movies together with friends is to download your favorite shows and movies to your computer, then you can invite your friends home to throw a Hulu watch party at home. But, if you want to download Hulu shows, movies, and other videos for totally offline watching without any limits, then the official download won't be able to meet your demands as it comes with certain limitations regarding where you can download onto, and how long you can keep the downloaded Hulu videos, among some other things. To lift all the restrictions, you will need a 3rd-party Hulu downloader, which allows you to download Hulu shows and movies of your choice, keep your downloaded videos as long as you would like to, and watch them on as many devices and as many times as you wish.
Key Features of This Hulu Downloader:
- Download Hulu shows and movies at either 720p or 1080p quality
- Download high-quality audio tracks of up to 5.1 channels
- Play and watch the downloaded content anywhere
- Download subtitles plus metadata information
- Batch-download and high-speed download
Here below is how to download any video of Hulu and TV show with it:
i Download for Win i Download for Mac
- Step 1: Launch this Hulu downloader, click the Streaming Services option from the left pane, then click the Hulu logo from the supported website list.
- Step 2: Log in with your Hulu account, search and play the wanted title of your favorite shows or movies.
- Step 3: Click the Download Now button on the following popup window to start downloading the video being played.
Final Wrap-up
Hulu party is easy to do with the Hulu Watch Party feature that has been introduced. Indeed, it is a great way to watch the same movie or show with many of your friends. Of course, there are other streaming platforms such as Zoom, Discord, Metastream, or Kast which can help you host Hulu parties as well. Each platform offers distinct advantages but in most cases, you can easily share your screen and showcase movies or shows. Some are available as apps while others work on web browsers as well.
Hulu has thousands of titles to choose from. You can opt for a subscription to this service through different bundles and packages. Once you have a membership, plan a virtual party with your friends. With the Watch Party feature, you and your friends are watching the same show or movie at the same time. On the other hand, the platform that you choose to watch the channel from will determine how many people can attend at the same time. Also, most of the platforms have additional features such as audio, text, or video chat. Hence, as per the kind of features you are looking for, you can choose the platform of your choice.