The feature in question is SharePlay, one of the lead additions shown off at WWDC 2021 back in June. It lets users listen to music, watch TV shows or movies, or share their screen during a group FaceTime call (via 9to5Mac).
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Apple made the announcement ahead of the release of iOS 15 beta 6, which will remove the feature. That also goes for iPadOS 15, tvOS 15 and macOS Monterey. Apple indicated in the release notes that: “SharePlay will be enabled for use again in future developer beta releases and will launch to the public in software updates later this fall.” While we’ve recently seen a number of streaming services adopt “watch-along” features to let people enjoy content together when they weren’t able to physically visit one another, this is the first OS-level feature to take it on. The feature would keep everyone in sync even across multiple devices and also include an API to ensure that other developers could support the feature. There is already an impressive list of apps on board. Apple didn’t elaborate on the cause for the delay, but did at least seem confident that it would make it into one of the first updates by claiming it would be coming “this fall.” It is disappointing to see a major component of the update delayed given that iOS 15 isn’t a massive rethink of the operating system. But hopefully, it won’t be for long.
