Update: In the latest version for Uptime, the app is now officially available to all users on iOS and includes a few new features.
If you and your friends all happen to be iPhone users and have been dying to watch a video together from across the country (or around the world), you officially can with Uptime. The app — which first launched in March and required an invite code — is now available for all users, according to TechCrunch.
In this day and age, you’re never really alone, even if there’s no one next to you. Driving home that idea, Google’s Uptime wants to make your video watching experience a more social one. Because who says you have to binge watch The Great British Baking Show all by your lonesome?
The new update also comes equipped with an easier-to-navigate home screen to see what’s on at the moment, Facebook Connect to find your friends, and now features music videos as well.
Developed by Google’s startup incubator Area 120, which was first established last year to encourage Google employees to come up with their own startup ideas, Uptime lets you connect with your friends via YouTube videos. Currently available exclusively for iPhone (we know that’s weird considering it’s … a Google product), the app simply requires you to sign in with your Google account, then find your friends. From there, you’ll be able to watch kitten videos (or whatever else you find on YouTube) together in real time, and provide commentary by way of Facebook Live-esque emojis and written comments as you watch.
We’re sure no one will be surprised to hear that the UI looks much like Snapchat’s, because apparently everyone is looking to borrow from the same source these days. But even so, Uptime certainly serves a different purpose from that of existing social media platforms, allowing users to gather around different screens, together.
The app is free to download for iOS.
