Social media giant Facebook has launched a new feature that will work with video content. The new feature is called Watch Together. As the name suggests, the latest Facebook’s offering allows users to watch videos together. This means users will no longer be required to be in the same room. Facebook said that with the Watch Together option, families, friends, and others can together watch videos on their screens. This is irrespective of their location. Facebook said that the new feature is available on mobile devices. It will support both the Android and iOS platforms. The videos can be viewed on a Messenger video call.

Facebook said that a total of eight people can together watch videos using the new option. It said that users can pick videos suggested to them by Facebook based on their search interest. They can also visit categories to select videos of their interest. Facebook said that anyone can create a Messenger room or make a Messenger video call. Then swipe up to get the menu option. Now select the Watch Together button. This will enable users to watch videos together. Facebook said users can’t create playlists. Facebook said that it worked for nearly two years before rolling out the Watch Together feature. The company had first talked about its project at the F8 developer conference in 2018.

Facebook said that the new feature will come in handy for users during the time of Covid-induced restrictions. It acknowledged that the pandemic has forced people to shift to streaming services. It said co-viewing features have helped friends and families to spend quality time. The Watch Together option is aimed at enhancing the experience of people and giving them a feeling of being in-person. Meanwhile, Facebook has also announced to enable automatic closed captions. The captions will help people with disabilities for Facebook Live and Workplace Live. At present, it supports six languages. They are English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.