Watch videos together with friends: Stage halls are live on Taverns
Stage is a new kind of hall on Taverns, the free community app for gaming groups. Paste a video link and everyone in the hall watches the same second, with the chat beside it, reactions over the picture and an Up Next queue anyone can add to.
How do you watch videos together with friends online?
Paste the video link into a Stage hall on Taverns, and everyone in the hall watches the same second, free. Taverns is a free community app for gaming and hobby groups, in any browser at tav.gg and in apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.1 A Stage is a hall where the video is the room: a YouTube, TikTok, X, Vimeo or Twitch clip link, or a video file, plays for everyone at once, with the chat right beside it.2 Anyone can add to Up Next, reactions fly over the picture, and the room can vote to skip.3
Watch the Short above, try the live example, then start a Stage free.
Key facts
- What a Stage is: A hall type on Taverns where the video is the room. Drop in a link and it plays for everyone in the hall at the same second.2
- Works with: YouTube, TikTok, X posts, Vimeo, Twitch clips and video files.2
- Always in sync: One shared clock runs the room. Join late and you land where everyone else is, and when a video ends the next one starts for everybody.2
- Up Next and vote to skip: Anyone can add videos to the queue. The room votes to skip, or a host skips outright.2
- Chat and reactions: The hall chat sits beside the player, chat bubbles float over the video, and emoji reactions fly across the screen for everyone watching.23
- Take it with you: Pop the Stage out into a small window and it follows you through other halls and taverns.2
- Where it works: In any browser at tav.gg, on a computer or a phone, in Taverns for Windows and Mac, and in the Taverns app for Android.456
- Price: Free. Creating an account, making a Tavern and joining a community cost nothing.1
What is a Stage hall on Taverns?
Taverns (tav.gg) is a free community platform for gaming and hobby groups, made by MEKASMITH Co., Ltd. A Tavern is your community, and halls are the rooms inside it: text halls hold the chat, voice halls hold calls and streams, and a Stage hall holds a watch party.1
In a Stage, the video fills the hall and everything else is a layer over it: the hall's name and how many are watching at the top, the controls at the foot, and Chat, Up Next and People in a panel at the side. Below is the example from the Taverns homepage, running live. Press it to make your own.2
How do you start a watch party on Taverns?
Make a Stage hall
In your Tavern, create a new hall and choose Stage. Anyone who can manage halls in that Tavern can make one, and every member can add videos to it.
Paste a link
Paste a YouTube, TikTok, X, Vimeo or Twitch clip link, or a link to a video file, and press Take the Stage. It starts playing for everyone in the hall.2
Bring your friends
Share the Stage into a hall, a group chat or a DM. The link shows up as a card with what is playing, how many are watching and a Join the Stage button.3
Keep the night going
Everyone adds to Up Next. When one video ends, the next starts for the whole hall.2
Which video sites can you watch together on Taverns?
- YouTube: videos and Shorts.2
- TikTok: video links, short links included.
- X: posts with a video.
- Vimeo: public videos.
- Twitch: clips. Twitch may ask each viewer to tap the clip once to start it.
- Video files: a link to an mp4 or webm file, or a video uploaded to Taverns.
Facebook and Instagram videos cannot go On Stage, because their players cannot start at a chosen second for everyone. Subscription streaming services such as Netflix are not supported either.
How does everyone stay on the same second?
A Stage does not share anyone's screen. Each person's own app plays the video straight from YouTube or the other site, and Taverns keeps one clock for the whole hall, so everyone sees the same moment.2
- Join late and you land exactly where everyone else is.2
- If your player falls a couple of seconds behind, it quietly catches up.
- The picture plays at the quality your own connection allows, not at the quality of someone else's upload.
- Whoever put a video on can leave the hall, and it keeps playing for everyone else.
- When a video ends, the next one in Up Next starts for everybody at once.2
How does vote to skip work?
Anyone watching can vote to skip what is On Stage, and the button shows how many votes it has and how many it needs. Once a majority of the people watching have voted, the video is skipped and Up Next moves on for the whole hall.23
Whoever put the video on can take it off themselves, and hosts can skip it outright. Skipped videos stay listed under Recently played.2
Can you chat, react and keep watching somewhere else?
- Chat beside the video: the Stage hall has its own chat, open when you arrive, with GIFs and custom emoji.2
- Chat bubbles: when the chat panel is closed, new messages float over the picture for a few seconds.2
- Reactions: tap an emoji and it floats up over the video for everyone watching. A storm of the same emoji stacks into a counter.3
- Pop out: the video moves into a small window you can drag and resize, and it keeps playing while you chat in other halls, other taverns or your DMs.2
- LIVE in the hall list: a Stage with something playing shows LIVE, the title and how many are watching, so the rest of the Tavern can drop in.2
This is our own announcement. Taverns is made by MEKASMITH Co., Ltd., and the sources above are our own pages, our app store listings and our video.
Start a Stage on any device
- WindowsFree for Windows 10 and 11
- MacNew: free for macOS 13 and later
- iPhone and iPadFree on the App Store
- AndroidFree on Google Play
- Any browserAt tav.gg, on a PC, Mac or phone
Windows and the Windows logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, Mac, macOS and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
Questions and answers
Can I watch YouTube together with friends on Taverns?
Yes. Paste a YouTube link into a Stage hall and everyone in the hall watches it at the same second, with chat and reactions beside it. It is free.
Is Taverns a free watch party app?
Yes. Taverns is free, and so are Stage halls: you do not pay to create an account, make a Tavern, add a Stage or watch together.
Do my friends need to download anything to watch?
No. A Stage works in any browser at tav.gg, on a computer or a phone. The free Taverns apps for Windows, Mac and Android play Stages too.
Can I watch a Stage on my iPhone?
Yes, in Safari at tav.gg. In the Taverns app for iPhone, a Stage hall's chat, Up Next and reactions work today, and the player comes with the next app update.7
Can I watch TikToks and Twitch clips together?
Yes. TikTok links, X posts with a video, Vimeo videos and Twitch clips all play in a Stage, and so do links to video files.
Can I watch Netflix together on Taverns?
No. A Stage plays YouTube, TikTok, X, Vimeo, Twitch clips and video files. Subscription services such as Netflix, and Facebook and Instagram videos, cannot go On Stage.
Is a Stage the same as screen sharing?
No. Screen sharing sends a copy of one person's screen. In a Stage, every viewer's app plays the video itself and Taverns keeps everyone on one clock, so the picture is as sharp as each viewer's connection allows. To stream a game, use Go Live in a voice hall.
Can I keep watching while I chat in another hall?
Yes. Pop the Stage out and the video follows you into other halls, other taverns and your DMs, in a small window you can move and resize.
Where can I watch the Stage video?
At the top of this page, or on the Taverns YouTube channel.
Sources
- Taverns Taverns (tav.gg): Discord Alternative for Gaming Communities
- Taverns Paste a link and watch it together in a Stage hall
- Taverns on YouTube Watch videos together with your whole crew, in sync, introducing Stages
- Taverns Taverns for Windows: Get the Free Desktop App
- Taverns Taverns for Mac: Get the Free Desktop App
- Google Play Taverns on Google Play
- App Store Taverns on the App Store
Updates to this story
First published, with the Stage Short and the live example from the homepage.