Watching movies with others is the most fun than doing it alone. However, what happens when the person you usually watch a film with is far away? It is still possible to watch the same movie, but chances are, one person would be further ahead than the other. It is difficult to get around this even if both parties press play at the same time, that’s what a program called Syncplay Portable was created, and we have to say, it is not half bad. SyncPlay for Windows PC synchronizes video playback across multiple media players so that a group of people with the same videos can watch them together.
SyncPlay for Windows PC
Basically, what Syncplay Portable does is to allow folks in the same virtual room to watch a movie at the same time. It synchronizes the video so that it runs simultaneously for each person connected to the client. We should point out that the program is not a streaming or video sharing service, and as such, each person must have the same movie on their computer.
Once the Syncplay Portable file was downloaded and installed, we had to make a few configurations, such as adding a server address, username, and password, all of which are optional. The program also requested that we specify a path to our default media player and the file we’d like to play.
Afterward, we were asked to press the “Store configuration and run Syncplay” button to get everything up and running. It asked us if we were OK with it checking for updates automatically, and as you might have guessed, we clicked OK because we’re lazy.
Syncplay Portable immediately launches the selected media player, connects to the server, and joins a virtual room. The user interface shows us the number of users on a server and what they are watching.
The server is able to replicate what each person does in the virtual room. For example, should one person pause their film, your version will also be paused. Despite that, though, users have 100 percent control over their own volume, which is a good move in our eyes.
If you are attempting to use Syncplay Portable with VLC media player, it is not as straightforward as the others. You will be asked to place the syncplay.lua into the VLC media player subdirectory. It shouldn’t be too hard to get your head around this since the .zip file contains information on how to do it.
Overall, we like Syncplay Portable, but we are not certain if many computer users will find regular use for it. Either way, it is a substantial program to have in your jackpot.
Download Syncplay Portable for free from the official website.