BBC Together is an experimental new feature that lets you watch or listen to content from BBC iPlayer, Sounds, Bitesize, News and Sport, in perfect sync with the people you’re unable to see in person during lockdown. Here’s how to use it.
The first thing to note is that if you’re hosting, you’ll be the person with all of the power. You’re the only person with the ability to pause, rewind, skip ahead, or even change the programme. And whatever you do will happen for everyone in the group.
How to use BBC Together
You can set up a BBC Together group watching or listening session on a computer, tablet or phone, whichever you prefer.
On BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, BBC Bitesize, BBC News or BBC Sport, simply find the URL for the programme, film or video you want to watch, and copy it.
Then follow this link to BBC Together, and paste the URL you’ve just copied into the box.
BBC Together will provide you with a link, which you should send to everyone you want to watch along with. All they need to do to join is click it.
If you’re the host, you’ll see how many people have joined your session, but you can’t see who they are. You should also note that it doesn’t have its own chat function.
It’s, therefore, a good idea to set up a group call on a dedicated chatting app, like Zoom, Google Meet or WhatsApp, to run alongside your BBC Together session. As well as helping you organise the session, this will allow everyone to chat about whatever it is you’re watching or listening to.
Once everyone’s ready, just hit play and, Wi-Fi permitting, you should all be watching along perfectly in sync with each other.
Related: 13 classic shows you need to watch on iPlayer while in lockdown
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
