The feature that allows you and your friends share a movie or music experience in sync in FaceTime, will come to Messages in iOS 16.
Craig Federighi, Apple's VP of Software Engineering, discussed the new integration at the company's WWDC 2022 event. Like with FaceTime SharePlay, iMessage SharePlay allows you and your family and friends to share experiences with synchronized playback.
Utilizing a single set of playback controls, all viewers in the party can toggle play/pause, and rewind/forward controls for everyone. This ensures that everyone can pause and skip ahead in sync for a better experience.
Like with FaceTime, you can send links to begin SharePlay via the Share Sheet. Members can join by opening the link, and will be prompted to add a subscription if the shared content requires it. Members can now send text messages during movies and music like how FaceTime party members would chat in the middle of media playback.
SharePlay for iMessage will debut with iOS and iPadOS 16 in the fall.
The FaceTime-only SharePlay feature first debuted in iOS 15.1 in October 2021.
