Teleparty does not work for F1 or live sport, here is what does
Teleparty syncs Netflix and Disney Plus. It does not cover live sport, YouTube or Twitch and it has nothing for ad breaks. CoViewer was built for the broadcast instead.
Everybody tries Teleparty first. It is the extension people remember from lockdown, it works beautifully on a film and it falls over the moment the thing on screen is a live race.
Why a film tool breaks on a race
Teleparty syncs a fixed timeline. A film is the same two hours for everyone, so a shared timestamp is enough. A broadcast is not. Two people on the same race can be forty seconds apart because one is on a satellite feed and the other on an app with a longer buffer.
Then there are the breaks. Sport is sold with advertising inside it and each broadcaster cuts at a different moment. A tool that has no idea an ad is playing will let half the room watch a pit stop while the other half watches a car insurance spot.
And the services people use for sport, the broadcaster apps plus YouTube and Twitch, are outside what Teleparty covers.
| CoViewer | Teleparty | |
|---|---|---|
| Live sport broadcasts | Yes | No |
| YouTube and Twitch | Yes | No |
| Ad break handling | Pauses the room | None |
| Race chat and reactions | Yes | Chat only |
| Ratings and driver of the day | Yes | No |
| Price | Free | Free tier |
What CoViewer does differently
It runs inside the broadcast you already pay for rather than inside one streaming catalogue. The host position travels to the room every three seconds and each player corrects itself, by a small speed nudge for a short gap and by a seek for a long one.
Ad breaks pause the room. When someone drops into a break the party waits for them, which is the single thing that decides whether a race watched together holds up or falls apart.
Sky Sports
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What you keep from the Teleparty habit
The parts that made it good are here. A chat next to the picture, one link to invite people, nothing to install beyond the extension. What is added is everything a race needs: the running order, the reactions, the rating at the flag and the vote for driver of the day.
A guide for every broadcaster
The setup is the same everywhere, the detail that matters is not. Each service has its own page with the times, the language split and the thing that usually goes wrong there.
International. F1 TV, YouTube and Twitch, beIN Sports.
Europe. Sky Sports, Canal+, DAZN, Sky Sport Italia and NOW, Sky Deutschland and WOW, Movistar Plus+, Viaplay, Ziggo.
The Americas. ESPN, TSN and RDS, Globoplay and Band.
Asia Pacific and Africa. Kayo and Fox Sports, JioHotstar, SuperSport and DStv.
Frequently asked questions
Does Teleparty work for sports?
No. Teleparty covers Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO and a few other catalogues. Live sport broadcasts, YouTube and Twitch are outside what it supports and it has no handling for ad breaks.
What is the best Teleparty alternative for live sport?
CoViewer, a free extension that runs on broadcaster sites such as F1 TV, Canal+, Sky Sports, DAZN and ESPN, plus YouTube and Twitch and pauses the room during ad breaks.
Can we watch a race together on different services?
Yes. Each person watches on the service they already pay for and CoViewer syncs the playback position between the players.
CoViewer is free, it takes about a minute to set up and it runs on the broadcast you already pay for.
CoViewer is made by BoxBoxd, the motorsport social network where fans rate every Grand Prix. The extension keeps playback in sync between people who each watch on their own subscription. It never rebroadcasts a stream. Questions at partnerships@boxboxd.fun.