Watch Along in the panel

Everything Watch Along does on the web app, the side panel does on youtube.com itself. You watch on the real YouTube page, and the panel carries the rest beside it: who is here, the party, the chat, the Room, and ride along.

The panel never draws anything on the YouTube page. Whatever happens, happens inside the panel, and the only thing that reaches the page is your player following the party or the person you are riding.

Who is watching

Just above the timeline strip, a compact row shows the people watching this video: overlapping faces, up to five and then a "+N" disc, with a line naming up to three of them or counting the crowd past that. Faces breathe gently while the video plays, and on a live stream the wording changes to "watching live" beside a mint dot.

The full roster and your visibility control sit below the strip, in a section of their own that never grows past a share of the panel. However crowded the party gets, it scrolls inside its own bounds and the receipt feed keeps the rest of the panel.

Your visibility is a row of three buttons, the same row the website shows: Visible, Masked, and Hidden. You appear Masked by default. Visible shows you as your persona and needs you signed in with one to appear as; Hidden lets you see everyone without being seen. Point at a button to read what it does, and the line under the row always says what your current choice means. When Visible is out of reach, that same line says why.

Videos made for kids never show any of this.

Folding the section away

The section's heading is also its handle. Tap it and the roster, the party, your visibility, and ride along fold to that one row, and the feed takes the panel back. Tap the row again to open it. Your choice is remembered on this browser and carries to the next video.

Nothing stops while it is folded. The party, the Room, your presence and any ride keep running underneath, and the row of faces above the timeline still tells you how many people are here. If a party asks how you want to appear before taking your seat, the section opens itself so the question is in front of you.

Joining a watch party

When a public watch party is live on the video you are on, the watchers row grows a join pill. Tapping it asks how you want to appear first, and only then takes your seat.

Once you are in, a party card shows who is watching with you, who is hosting, and whether you are in sync. Playback on the real YouTube page follows the party: the host's pauses, plays, and seeks reach your player. Leaving is one tap, and your seat comes back on its own if the panel reloads mid-party.

Before a booked party starts

The watchers area also carries the next watch party you booked or accepted, from a day before it starts, and for a day after if it never got going. The card says whether you are hosting or invited, names the party, prints the start in your own clock's time, and tracks where it stands: Lobby opens at 7:45 PM, then Lobby is open, then Live now.

Open on web is the only thing that opens a tab, and only when you tap it: the party's page while the lobby is still shut, the lobby itself once it opens. The panel never opens a tab by itself.

Once the party is live, that same spot reads Join live. It asks how you want to appear, the way the join pill does, and then seats you in the panel with everybody else. You stay on youtube.com the whole time.

If the host calls the party off while you are looking at it, or the start comes and goes with nothing running, the card says Cancelled or Didn't happen and gives you Dismiss to clear it. A card that vanished mid-glance would tell you less than one that says what happened. If the panel loses touch with the server, it keeps the last thing it knew and admits the age with Last checked a while ago.

Signed out, none of this shows. The card reads your own bookings, and there are none to read until you sign in.

Standing the party card down

The card's heading is also its handle. Tap it and the card folds to a single row that reads Watch Along and the number of people with you, plus a Live tag once you are in the Room and your mic button if you have one. Tap the row again to open it back up.

The card starts open, and folding it is a preference rather than a repair: the watchers section is already bounded, so the feed has its share of the panel either way. Your choice is remembered on this browser and carries to the next party, since someone who wants the feed to own the panel usually wants that every time.

Folding never disconnects anything. The Room, the roster and the party itself keep running underneath, which is why the mic button rides up onto the folded row rather than going away with the rest of the card.

When the host moves to a new video, the panel asks. Follow takes your YouTube tab to the new video and keeps you in sync there. Not now keeps your seat where you are, and the card keeps a Follow button for later. Every video change asks again. The panel never moves your tab without asking.

A party running a list of videos moves the same way, and it can also circle back to the video you are already watching. Follow takes the tab to the next one, or, when the party replays what is already on your screen, seeks your player there without reloading the page. Not now answers for that video alone: your seat stays, the card grows a Rejoin the group pill for whenever you want to catch up, and the next video in the list asks the question again. Nothing moves your tab until you answer.

If your player falls behind the party, a catch-up prompt jumps you back in.

A booked party's button changes as its waiting room opens and the party goes live. If opening the website failed earlier, the new button offers the current way in. The follow prompt owns the choice to move; after Not now, the card keeps the way to rejoin.

Chat

When the party has chat on, the card grows a Chat button that opens the same live chat the web app shows, with reactions and per-message reporting. A dot on the button marks new activity while chat is closed, and a half-typed line survives closing and reopening.

Listening and talking

When the party's voice is on, the card shows Room is live with Hear the room under it. One tap connects you as a listener, with no permission prompts of any kind, because listening never touches your microphone. Once you are in, the card shows who is speaking and how many mics are live, and roster faces glow while their person talks.

If the host grants you a mic, an unmute button appears. The first time you unmute, the panel opens a small page that explains what the microphone is for and gives you one button that lets your browser ask. Once you allow it, that page never appears again and unmute works directly. If your browser has the microphone blocked, the card says so plainly instead of asking again.

When someone in the party has their camera on, their video shows on the party card, and you can watch the stage there. The panel is view-only for camera and the stage. The Room: voice, captions, and camera describes the Room on the website, including the parts the panel doesn't have.

Ride along

Tap a watcher's face and you get two choices: jump to their spot, or ride along. Riding means your real YouTube player follows their pauses, plays, and seeks.

When they move to another video the panel asks first. Follow takes your tab into their rabbit hole, and Hop off ends the ride. A riding chip shows who you are with, your sync state, a one-tap heart, and the way out.

If someone rides you, you see a count and the hearts they send, never who they are. When that appreciation clusters, you alone get a quiet nudge to start a party with the people riding with you. A Let others ride along switch sits with your visibility choices; it is on by default, and Hidden always turns it off.

What only the website does

In the panel you can listen, use your mic and mute it, watch the stage and other people's camera tiles, chat, join, follow the host and ride along. Live captions, each speaker's own volume, the video getting quieter while someone talks, the stage controls (pinning a speaker, or a host putting someone on stage) and broadcasting your own camera are on the website only.

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