Which YouTube co-viewing feature did Discord test after Google's 2021 bot notices?

The YouTube co-viewing feature Discord tested after Google’s 2021 bot notices was Watch Together.

Watch Together was developed through a partnership between Discord and YouTube. It allowed people in a Discord session to watch YouTube videos together, creating a synchronized viewing experience rather than simply playing audio from a bot in a voice channel.

The timing was notable. In September 2021, Google sent cease-and-desist notices to the developers of Groovy and Rythm, which had played YouTube music in Discord voice channels. About two weeks later, Discord began testing Watch Together, a more formal and platform-compatible way to share YouTube content.

Watch Together is easy to confuse with Discord’s screen-sharing or livestreaming tools. Screen sharing broadcasts a user’s screen or application, while Watch Together is an integrated activity designed around YouTube videos. The distractors “Stream Together,” “Party View,” and “Group Watch” are descriptive phrases, but they are not the feature’s official name.