Long-distance dates you can watch together

Walnut was made for people who live apart. Here are things you can do together from different cities or time zones, and how to set up a private room for two.

A room for two

A Walnut holds up to 16 people, but it works just as well for two. Make it invite-only and lock it once you’re both in, and it’s yours. Calls and screens are streamed live and never recorded.

Call from your direct messages and a Walnut opens with voice already on. Leave the screen empty and it’s a call. Put something on it and it’s a date.

Date ideas that work at a distance

Watch a film or a series

Paste a YouTube or video link and it plays in sync for both of you. For a paid service, each play it on your own account and press play together while you talk in the Walnut. Movie night, step by step.

Plan the next visit

Open maps, train times and places to stay on the room’s TV. Whoever holds the remote scrolls and clicks, and you pass it back and forth. How browsing together works.

Cook the same recipe

Put a recipe video on in sync, prop your laptops up in your kitchens, and pause together when one of you falls behind on the chopping.

Show each other your week

Share your screen to go through photos, a playlist, or the flat you’re thinking of renting. In between, send voice messages for the hours when one of you is asleep.

Play something slow

Browser games on the TV work when you take turns, like a quiz or a crossword: pass the remote each go. The TV’s picture arrives a moment after the click, so fast games aren’t much fun there.

Keep each other company

Studying, working or doing chores? On Windows, a Mini Walnut stays on top of your other windows, so the call and the shared screen sit in a corner while you get on with things.

Across time zones

When you’re hours apart, a few things help. A Walnut stays open for 24 hours after you both leave, with its queue and the page on its TV, so you can pick up where you left off later in the day. Direct messages, voice messages and photos keep the conversation going in between, and you can see when the other one is in a Walnut and knock to join.

Set up your first date

1. Both make a free account at easywalnut.com and add each other as friends, by username, friend link or QR code.
2. Call from your messages. A Walnut opens with voice on, just for the two of you.
3. Put something on the screen: paste a video link, press Start on the TV, or share your screen.
4. Pick a layout. Cinema makes the screen as big as it gets; lounge keeps the chat and the call around it.

Honest limits

• A Walnut has voice chat, not video calls.
• Paid streaming services that use DRM can’t go on the shared screen, in Walnut or anywhere else.
• Phones can watch and talk in the browser, but can’t share a screen.

Questions

Is it private?

A Walnut can be invite-only, locked or protected with a password, and only the people in it see the screen. Voice and screens are streamed live and never recorded.

Can we use it on our phones?

Yes, to watch and talk, in the phone’s browser. Sharing a screen needs a computer.

Is Walnut free?

Yes, on the web and for Windows.