WatchSync v0.1.0-rc.1 (release candidate)

Streaming Sync: a Chrome extension that keeps friends' Netflix, Prime Video and JioHotstar tabs in sync, each on their own account, through a small room service.

Added

• Rooms: create a room, share a code or an invite link, join from the popup or the link, see who is in the room and what they have open.
• Sync: play, pause and jumps reach everyone (everyone can control, DEC-017); jumps follow with a notice such as "Suhaas skipped ahead to 42:10" (DEC-016).
• Same title: someone on another title is asked "Suhaas is watching Dark, S1:E3. Open it?"; the room moves to the next episode together.
• Staying together: small drift is corrected silently; large drift offers Sync; Watch on my own; an on-page pill shows who is here and in sync.
• Flagship, Nobody gets left behind (DEC-023): the room waits while someone buffers or watches an ad, says why ("Asha is on an ad · about 0:20 left"), and resumes everyone together; after 90 s the others can go on without them.
• Start together: a ready check, then 3-2-1, then every player starts at the same moment.
• Recovery: reconnect with backoff after network drops, rejoin after a browser restart, clear message when a room has ended, Leave room.
• Service adapters for Netflix (player API through a page bridge), Prime Video (episodes and ads read from its player) and JioHotstar (live streams are not synced and say so).
• Room service on Railway with rate limits, room expiry, input validation and security headers; privacy notice and terms at /privacy and /terms.
• Accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA gate (axe) in the test suite, keyboard paths, reduced motion (DEC-022).
• Update notice: once a day the extension checks GitHub for a newer release, and the popup says "WatchSync 0.1.1 is out · Download" when there is one.
• Downloads from the website: every release tag publishes a GitHub Release with the extension zip, and the website links to the latest one.
• Website at watchsync.space: what WatchSync does, a step-by-step install guide for Chrome and Brave, release notes, FAQ, privacy and terms. The demo players on the home page can be paused, played and skipped, and every screen follows.
• Welcome page: the first time you install WatchSync, a short tour shows how to pin it, make or join a room, and watch together.
• The popup, welcome page and website share one look, and the popup links to the website.
• Invite links now use WatchSync's own address, for example https://join.watchsync.space/j/ABC234.
• A separate WatchSync Dev build for testers, with a DEV badge and its own room service, so new work can be tried without touching the real one.

Fixed

• BUG-002 to BUG-013, including: autoplay on arrival pulling the room back (BUG-004), a first jump pausing everyone (BUG-005), the sender's own room clock going stale (BUG-006), NaN breaking a room (BUG-008), endless Reconnecting after a room ended (BUG-009), a dropped friend disconnecting the sender (BUG-010), and idle rooms and limiter keys not being cleaned up (BUG-011).
• BUG-014: friends are told when someone opens another title ("Suhaas opened Vaarasudu.") and choose Continue with Suhaas or Watch on my own; going back to the browse page between titles no longer stops the room following.
• BUG-015: Prime Video detection rebuilt from its live player, after Prime moved to generated class names and WatchSync no longer found the title.
• BUG-016: the popup leads with the people in the room once anyone else has joined; the invite code moves to a small line below.
• BUG-017: a tidy two-line popup footer instead of one line that wrapped mid-sentence.
• BUG-018: after a Wi-Fi drop, the extension reconnects within seconds instead of waiting up to a minute.
• BUG-019: when a different show starts after the credits, friends are asked whether to follow instead of being moved silently.
• BUG-021 and BUG-022: the "Keep waiting" card no longer stays on screen after everyone is back, and nobody gets a notice about their own action.
• BUG-023 and BUG-024: the website's Features page is now tested, and the website builds correctly on the server.

Known issues

• Netflix has been tested by two people on real accounts. Prime Video still needs that two-person test, and JioHotstar can only be checked from India (it redirects elsewhere), including how it tells ads apart.
• Ads are detected on Prime Video. JioHotstar ad detection (BUG-020) is built but not yet confirmed from India, where the service plays; on Netflix the buffering wait still applies but WatchSync never claims an ad.
• On Prime Video, when the room moves to another episode of the same show, friends pick it in the player themselves.
• Installed as an unpacked zip (Developer mode); a Chrome Web Store listing waits for the legal review (DEC-024).
• A redeploy of the room service ends every open room.

WatchSync Dev (4e1ab4b)

Testing build from the dev branch at 4e1ab4b. It talks to the dev room service, which sleeps when idle, so the first room can take a few seconds. For everyday use, install WatchSync from https://watchsync.space.