Choose Together or Separately

Two ways to keep pace

Together and Separately are progress rules inside Series Lock. They answer a practical question: when one participant completes an episode, whose progress should change?

Choose Together when a viewing session should count for all participants, such as two profiles whose owners watch the same television. Choose Separately when each person watches independently and should complete each episode on their own profile.

These modes do not change playback quality, connect a provider or synchronise play and pause. For simultaneous viewing across devices, use Watch Party.

Where to choose the mode

1. Open the series information page and choose Lock Series. On Apple TV this action is in the ⋯ menu.
2. Find the Mode selector.
3. Choose Together or Separately after agreeing how the group wants completion to behave.
4. Select at least one other household profile or accepted friend, choose the optional PIN rule and create the lock.

The mode shown in an invitation is part of what the recipient accepts. Read it before choosing Join with this profile.

How Together behaves

In Together, a participant’s episode completion is shared with everyone who has joined. Odyssey also combines existing watched completion when creating a household group or accepting another participant into it. If one participant already has episodes one to three marked watched, that matters to the group’s initial state.

A later watched-state change for a listed episode also applies to the joined group in this mode. Treat changes to watched status as shared actions. If you correct a mistaken completion, the correction may affect other participants’ lock progress.

Together is useful when several profiles represent viewers sharing the same screen. It is less useful if those people frequently watch separately and want independent completion records within the lock.

How Separately behaves

In Separately, completion updates the participating profile that performed it. The waiting rule follows the earliest incomplete episode across the group’s ordered list.

For example, watching episode four early does not make unwatched episode two disappear. Odyssey can show that a participant has watched ahead while still showing an earlier episode as their next one. This prevents a skipped episode from silently advancing the shared boundary.

Let completed progress reach the service before expecting another device to stop showing a wait. A connection error and a real waiting state need different remedies.

Worked examples

One sofa, two profiles: Rowan and Casey watch every episode together. Together avoids needing the same completion recorded twice. They check existing progress first so the lock begins at the episode both actually intend.

Two different schedules: Jamie watches on Friday and Taylor watches on Sunday. Separately lets Jamie finish the agreed episode without marking it watched for Taylor. Jamie waits before the next one until Taylor has caught up.

A mixed routine: a group sometimes shares a television but often watches independently. Separately is the more cautious choice if each person wants to own their completion. They should verify the correct active profile during each viewing session.

Review or change the arrangement

Open Manage Series Lock on the series or Settings → Profiles → Manage Family Profiles → My Series Locks. The current management screen shows the mode and each participant’s progress.

This version does not offer a mode-editing control. Do not assume that switching modes elsewhere will rewrite an existing lock. If the arrangement is wrong, the creator can remove the lock and create a new one after the group reviews its watched state. A participant who no longer wants to join can use Leave Lock.

Questions and common surprises

Why was my episode marked watched? Check whether you accepted a Together lock and whether another participant completed it. That is the intended rule.

Why am I still waiting after watching ahead? Earlier unfinished episodes still count. Review the next episode shown for each person.

Does Watch Anyway change the mode? No. It authorises the requested episode when allowed by the lock’s PIN rule; it does not convert Separately into Together.

Can a friend join without the series? An accepted invitation records participation, but playback still requires an authorised, available source. The invitation contains no grant of media rights.