SoundBlue

Synced rooms with chat, captions and a privacy Shield against trackers. Requires an active SoundBlue account and the SoundBlue app.

To use SoundBlue, you need an active SoundBlue account, which is a paid subscription, and the SoundBlue app for Windows or Mac on this computer. Plans and prices: https://soundblue.co/en/pricing/ The extension confirms the account through the app, and until the account is active, Watch together, Captions and Shield stay locked. The only exception is joining a room through someone's invitation. SoundBlue is a companion for watching video in the browser: watch together with friends in sync, read captions translated by the SoundBlue app and browse with Shield, a tracker blocker for your privacy. Everything sits in one panel, opened from the toolbar icon, and each feature has its own switch. FEATURES • Watch together: play, pause, scene and speed stay in sync between the people in a room, each on their own screen and their own account on the service, with chat and reactions. If someone hits an ad break, the room waits. Rooms go through a room server whose address is in Settings. • Captions: with the SoundBlue app for Windows or Mac on the same computer, the extension reads the caption text of the video in the tab and hands it to the app, which translates it and shows the caption over the video. Without the app, the feature stays idle. • Shield: blocks trackers on pages for your privacy, with a counter and a per-site switch. It uses well-known filter lists, each shown with its license, and accepts your own filters. On video services it mutes and dims the commercial break. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the SoundBlue app for Windows or Mac and sign in to your SoundBlue account in the app. 2. Click the SoundBlue icon in the browser toolbar. The panel opens next to the video. In the Sign in card, connect the extension to the app. 3. To watch together, create the room in the video's tab and send the invitation. Whoever receives it opens the same video and confirms before joining. 4. For captions, pair the extension with the code the SoundBlue app generates in Captions, then click Read captions in this tab. Reading starts only after that click. SIGN IN The extension has no password of its own. In the Sign in card, you connect the extension to the SoundBlue app on this computer with the 6-digit code the app shows in Settings, Account, Connect extension. After that, the panel shows the account status, such as "Account active until" followed by the date. To join a room as a guest, just open the invitation. Until the account is active, the panel shows the Sign in card with a line saying why, and Watch together, Captions and Shield stay off. PRIVACY • The extension receives your account status, expiry date and enabled caption features from the app. When you create a room, it receives temporary authorization for that room. It never receives your email, password or payment details. This status stays in the browser’s memory and disappears when it closes. The authorization is sent to the room server and discarded after sending. • Caption text goes only to the SoundBlue app. • The addresses you visit do not go through SoundBlue's servers, and Shield keeps no history. The extension has no telemetry. • The room server receives temporary authorization to create the room, with pseudonymous account and device identifiers, and what you send to the room: optional name, messages, reactions and video commands. Messages are not stored. • Privacy policy: https://soundblue.co/en/privacy/ NOTICES It does not circumvent content protection and does not download videos. Each person needs their own account on the service being watched. Using Shield on video services may go against the terms of use of some services. SoundBlue is not affiliated with any video service.