Streaming gave us everything except each other.
We lost family movie night, TV time on the couch, and even the watercooler. We kept talking about what we watch — just now in comment sections — and learned the hard way: spoilers ruin everything. Watch a finale a week late and the internet has already given the ending away.
Buddy Watch is the conversation, brought home — and made spoiler-safe by design. Timestamped comments from your people, anchored to the moments they happen. Comments don't appear until you reach them. Your friends can react to the finale on Sunday; you won't see those reactions until you watch the finale, whenever that is.
Watching the same thing, on your own time, wherever you stream — all the takes, none of the spoilers. Finally, you can watch alone, together.
Spoiler-safe by design
Every comment in Buddy Watch is anchored to the moment it's about. When your friend comments at minute 47 of episode 4, that comment doesn't exist for you until you reach minute 47 of episode 4. You can't accidentally scroll past it. You can't see it in a notification. It simply isn't there until what you're watching has shown you what the comment is about.
So your friends can finish the season tonight. They can react to the twist. They can post the most off the wall finale theory of all time. And when you sit down to watch what they watched minutes ago, days ago, or whenever, the conversation is right there waiting — exactly when you're ready for it. Not a beat sooner.
No "no spoilers please." No spoiler tags to remember. No anxiety reading a thread. The structure handles it.
And it works across different copies of the same edition. Whether your friend has a different rip, a different transcode, or a different media server entirely — Plex while you're on Jellyfin, your Emby while they're on Plex — Buddy Watch aligns the conversation to the moment it's about. As long as you're watching the same edition (same cut, same runtime), your timestamp is theirs. The provider is invisible.
How it works
1. Pair Buddy Watch with where you watch
The preferred way: pair the Buddy Watch app with your TV or streaming box — Apple TV, Roku, Android TV / Google TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, or a smart TV from Samsung, LG, Sony, and more. Once paired, the conversation follows whatever streaming app you open — Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, or anything else on that TV. No service has to integrate with us. Watching on a laptop or away from home instead? See the alternatives below.
2. Add your people
Friends, family, that one cousin with the takes. Buddy Watch is built for the small-circle conversation, not the algorithm.
3. Watch, comment, react
Comments anchor to the timestamp. Threads stay with the moment. Reactions appear when your friends reach them. Pick up the conversation whenever you do — finale a week late, a year late, it's still right where you left off.
4. (Optional) Host the room
Friends coming over? One paired TV becomes the room's anchor — guests join from the Buddy Watch app they already have. Chat can pop up right on the TV. After the show, the Wrap-Up Room opens for the post-credits conversation.
What you can do
Works with everything you watch
Pair the Buddy Watch app with the streaming box you already use — Apple TV, Roku, Android TV / Google TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, or a smart TV from Samsung, LG, Sony, and more — and the conversation follows whatever you stream there. Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, your cable input, your apps — all of it. We connect at the TV, not the app, so no service has to integrate with us.
Right on your TV
When you're paired to a TV, the chat from your watch party can pop up on the same screen you're watching. One screen, no juggling, no second device required. Whatever app is playing, the conversation lives over the top.
In-person watch parties
Friends over? One person pairs the room — laptops, phones, tablets, and the Buddy Watch app in your guests' pockets all end up on the same playhead and the same chat. No per-guest setup, no install before the movie starts.
Comment at the moment
Your reaction stays anchored to the second it happened. When friends get there, they see exactly what you saw.
Threaded conversations
Replies stay with the moment. The conversation about the season finale doesn't get buried under casual chat.
Watch alongside — even from across the country
Friends watching the same show at the same time? See where they are, pause together, sync up. No shared subscription required, no special infrastructure.
Live, as it happens
Live sports get a tight Locker Room mode during the game — DVR delays don't spoil the score, but everyone still feels the same play together. Live news gets a Newsroom. Theatrical releases get cross-showing sync, so a 7:30 showing and a 9:15 showing can share the conversation in time.
When the show ends
Finished the series? Walk into the Wrap-Up Room — the place to talk about the work as a whole, with the friends who also finished. Spoiler-free for anyone still watching, no etiquette required.
A buddy in the chat
Buddy Bot is the optional companion that watches with you — surfacing quotable moments tied to specific points in the show, marking the scenes worth coming back to, and posting wrap-up summaries when the credits roll. Spoiler-safe like everything else; never ahead of you.
A friend feed that respects you
See what your people are watching now, what they just finished, where the conversation is heating up. No algorithm picking for you, no infinite scroll — just the friends you actually chose.
On a laptop or away from home? Works there too.
No TV box around — at a coffee shop, traveling, on the road? Connect a media server you run yourself or use our browser extension on a laptop. Same conversation, same spoiler-safety, same friends — wherever you happen to be watching.
Privacy-first
You control what each friend sees, when, and from where. Every signal is opt-in. No tracking, no algorithmic feed, no surprises.
Why we built this
Streaming was supposed to give us everything. Instead it scattered us — different titles, different schedules, different conversations in different apps. Family movie night? Sunday-night TV with the family? Gone. The morning-after watercooler chat about last night's episode? Gone. We're all watching the same things, just never at the same time, never in the same place.
But here's what we've learned from the internet: the comment section is half the experience. A great Reddit thread about a movie. The Letterboxd review that nails it. The friend's text mid-episode that becomes a running joke for years. We never stopped wanting the conversation — we just lost the place to have it. And every place that tried became a spoiler minefield.
The best parts of life are the ones we share with people we love — and watching things together used to be one of those parts. Different schedules and four screens at the dinner table changed that. Buddy Watch is my attempt to get some of it back.
— Marc Rajs
Buddy Watch is that place. Your friends, your library, your timestamps, your takes. Watching alone, together — finally.
What it isn't
We're being honest about scope. Buddy Watch is not:
- A streaming service. We don't host, transcode, or redistribute any media. Bring your own library.
- An algorithm. No infinite feed, no ranking, no "for you." You see what your friends say. That's it.
- A replacement for group chat. Casual back-and-forth lives in your messenger; Buddy Watch is for the conversation that's anchored to what you're watching.
- A discovery engine. We're not telling you what to watch. We're making it better when you watch what you already chose.
- A walled garden. Watch parties don't need everyone on the same device or the same streaming subscription. Host installs the Buddy Watch collector; guests use the app they already have. No "please install this extension" texts before the movie starts.
- For everyone. It's built for people who watch with people they care about, on schedules that don't always line up. If that's you, welcome.
FAQ
What can I connect Buddy Watch to?
Three paths, in order of preference:
1. Your TV or streaming box (preferred). Pair the Buddy Watch app with your Apple TV, Roku, Android TV / Google TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, or smart TV from Samsung, LG, Sony, and others. The conversation follows whatever streaming app is open on that TV — Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, the cable input, your apps. No service has to integrate with us; we connect at the TV.
2. A media server you run. Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby. Good for laptops, phones, tablets, and any setup where you're not in front of a paired TV.
3. The browser extension. For streaming services that don't expose an API — Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock — when you're watching in a browser on a laptop.
You need at least one. Most people will use #1 at home and #2 or #3 when they're away.
Which streaming services work with Buddy Watch?
All of them, through your TV. Once Buddy Watch is paired with your Apple TV / Roku / Android TV / Chromecast / Fire TV / smart TV, the conversation follows whatever you're streaming on that TV. The streaming app doesn't need to know we exist — we connect at the TV level, not the app level.
Off your TV (laptop, phone away from home), the browser extension covers Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Peacock. Plex / Jellyfin / Emby cover your own server. Different paths, same conversation.
What about laptops, phones, and media servers? What does Buddy Watch see?
The TV-pairing path is the easy default; these are the alternatives.
Media servers: Plex requires nothing from your server admin — your Plex account access is enough. Jellyfin and Emby need a one-time API-key setup by the server's admin (a 30-second config step). After that, anyone with an account on that server can connect normally.
Browser extension: install it from the Chrome Web Store / Firefox add-ons / Edge add-ons. You approve each service individually before the extension reads anything from it.
What we see, regardless of path: titles you're watching, playback positions, and library metadata (so we can match what you're watching to the right discussion thread). We never receive your media files or transcoded streams. Your API keys and credentials are encrypted at rest.
Can I host watch parties in person?
Yes. The optional Buddy Watch collector turns the room into one watch party — laptops, phones, tablets, and the BW app in your guests' pockets all end up on the same playhead and the same chat. The host installs the collector once; guests don't install anything new.
Available as a desktop app (Windows / Mac / Linux), as part of the BW phone app, as a Docker image, on a Raspberry Pi, or as a small dedicated Buddy Watch Bridge device for plug-and-play setups.
Can the chat show up right on my TV?
Yes — pair the Buddy Watch collector with your Apple TV, Roku, Android TV, or Chromecast and live chat from your watch party can pop up on the same screen you're watching, regardless of which app you're streaming in. Netflix, Disney+, the cable input, anything.
You stay in control: toggle the overlay on or off, set quiet hours, choose which rooms can surface to which TVs.
What about live sports, live news, and theatrical releases?
Buddy Watch ships dedicated room contexts for live content. The Locker Room is the live-sports mode during a game — comments are spoiler-clamped tight, so a friend on a DVR delay doesn't get the score from a friend watching live. After the final whistle the Wrap-Up Room opens for the post-game analysis.
The Newsroom works the same way for breaking news and live events.
For first-run theatrical releases, the Theater mode keeps a single conversation timeline across different showings — so a 7:30 PM and a 9:15 PM showing of the same movie can share the same reactions in time.
What happens after I finish a show?
Buddy Watch unlocks a <strong>Wrap-Up Room</strong> — a dedicated space to discuss the work as a whole. The friends who've also finished are there. Anyone still watching doesn't see it (and can't accidentally spoil themselves). Your profile pages show your completed movies and shows separately, so the wrap-up conversation is something you can come back to whenever a friend finally catches up.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes. The Buddy Watch app on iPhone, iPad, and Android is the everyday way most people use it — connect your media servers, browse the friend feed, comment on what you're watching. The phone app also doubles as a Buddy Watch collector when you're hosting an in-person watch party, so guests with just the app can join your party without anyone installing anything new.
What's Buddy Bot?
Buddy Bot is the optional in-conversation companion — a small, well-behaved bot that surfaces quotable moments tied to specific points in the show, marks scenes worth coming back to, and writes a Wrap-Up Room summary when the credits roll. Like everything else in Buddy Watch, it's spoiler-safe: it never posts ahead of where you are. Turn it off entirely, or turn it down to the mode you prefer — quiet, occasional, or chatty.
Does Buddy Watch host or stream content?
No, never. We're a companion app. Your media stays where it is; we just provide the conversation layer on top.
What about my privacy?
Privacy is a foundational design decision, not a setting. You control what each friend sees about your viewing — opt-in visibility, per-friend, per-signal. We don't sell, share, or analyze your viewing for advertising. Detailed privacy policy in the footer.
What if my friend finishes ahead of me — won't they spoil it?
No. Comments only appear when you reach the moment they're tied to. Your friend can react to the season finale; you won't see those reactions until you watch the season finale. Spoiler-safety isn't a guideline — it's how the system works.
What if my friend uses a different media server than I do?
That's fine — they're still in the same conversation, as long as you're watching the same edition. If alice runs Plex and bob runs Jellyfin and both have the theatrical cut of Oppenheimer, they're in the same Oppenheimer thread. (Director's cuts, extended editions, and theatrical releases each get their own thread, since they're different works.) Buddy Watch matches by canonical metadata + runtime, so different rips and transcodes of the same edition fold together; different cuts stay separate. Provider doesn't matter; edition does.
Is there a free tier?
Right now Buddy Watch is in private beta and free for invited testers. Long-term we're planning a free-with-limits tier and a paid tier with the social features that cost real infrastructure (like watch-along presence). Details when we're closer to public launch.
How is this different from group chat or Discord?
Casual chat is great for casual chat. Buddy Watch is for the conversation that's tied to what you're watching — so the comments about Episode 4 stay with Episode 4, anchored to the timestamps where they happened. Pick it up next year and the conversation is still where it was.
Why is signup invite-only right now?
We're in private beta — small group of testers, real feedback, real iteration. Public signups open later. Drop your email below to be notified when they do.
Who's building this?
Buddy Watch is being built by Marc — a person who missed the watercooler and wanted it back.
Is the code open source?
Not yet — we're still kicking it around.
Get in touch
Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Want to nerd out about self-hosted media stacks?