To use this feature, you have to press the play button in the live IPL match and then click on “Start Video Call”. You can now use this feature to watch the IPL 2020 final match held on Tuesday. However, this option will be available only in portrait mode on your device. Which means that you cannot enjoy watching the match on full-screen. You can add up to 5 friends with the “Watch with your friends” feature on Disney+ Hotstar. Once all friends are added to a match, you’ll get access to match commentary and a volume knob for your friends’ conversations, letting you decide who you want to prioritize and if you don’t want a video call. You can also choose the “Audio Only” option.
Technically, you can also enjoy video calling through third party apps like Zoom or Google Meet, but you may face synchronization issues. This is especially irritating for live sports. Of course, you would not like someone else to react to the wicket falling before you, because the match is being streamed on their TV a few seconds before yours. The ‘Watch with Your Friends’ feature on Disney+ Hotstar takes special care of this and ensures that everyone can enjoy the moments of the match together.
At present, no information has been revealed about whether this ‘Watch with your Friends’ feature of Disney + Hotstar will be offered for non-live content or not.
However, this feature of the app seems to be weak on three aspects, that is – bitrates, seconds per frame and resolution. Disney+ Hotstar’s average for live sports is 3Mbps, which results in pixelation on larger screens. At the same time, it also does not support 60fps and it does not have 4K resolution for sports content.
