WatchAlong

WatchAlong lets you watch your favorite videos together with friends! while handling playback synchronization for all users.

Features

• Video player that supports direct video files.
• Playback synchronization for all users.
• In-game text chat

Controls

Action	Keybinding
Movement	W,A,S,D
Look	Mouse
Jump	Space
Interact	E
Fullscreen (Seated)	F
Chat	Enter

Connecting

WatchAlong uses LAN for connections. This means that if you want to connect outside your home network, you can either port forward or use a virtual network (VPN).

Port Forwarding: Forward 7777 on your home router. This lets friends connect directly to you without any third-party tools. This will require some basic understanding of networking.

VPN Services: A virtual private network creates a private, shared local network. This is often easier to set up than port forwarding and avoids tweaking router settings. Here are a few free services you can use:

• Radmin VPN
• Tailscale
• ZeroTier
• Hamachi

For testing, I have been using Radmin VPN, which is quick and easy to set up without needing an account. Simply create a room, invite your friends, and you're ready to go!

Regardless of which method you choose, the friend with the better internet connection should act as the host. Once they begin hosting, friends can join using the host's IP address (provided by your virtual network software or your public IP if using port forwarding).

Media

WatchAlong supports playback using any direct URL to a video file hosted online. The URL must point directy to the video.

To watch your own local files, host them using an HTTP server; I recommend LocalStream. Because you are using a virtual network, your friends will have access to the server without needing to port forward.

Supported video formats:

• .mp4
• .m4v
• .mov
• .mpg
• .mpeg
• .webm
• .ogv