Screen Sharing in Houseparty

Can you share your screen in Houseparty?

Not today. Houseparty was a group video chat app owned by Epic Games, and Epic discontinued it in 2021. The service no longer runs, so you can't use it to share your screen or join a call. If you need screen sharing now, use a video calling tool that still has the feature and supports it on your device.

Old guides and app store listings may still describe Houseparty features. Treat them as history, not current instructions. Don't install copies of the app from unofficial sources. They can't connect to a service that has shut down, and they may carry unwanted software.

How screen sharing works in video call apps

Screen sharing captures what is shown on your display, or in one app window, and sends it as a video stream to the other people in the call. Your camera feed and the shared screen are separate streams. Many apps show both side by side or switch between them.

Several things decide whether sharing works on a given device:

• Operating system permission: on macOS, the calling app needs Screen Recording permission in the privacy settings before it can capture the screen. Mobile systems also show their own prompt before a capture starts.
• App support: each calling service decides whether to offer screen sharing on desktop, mobile and browser versions. Support can differ between versions.
• Capture scope: some apps let you share a single window or browser tab instead of the whole screen. Others only offer the full display.
• System audio: sharing the sound from a video or game is a separate option. Not every app or platform supports it.

Menu names, button placement and supported platforms change between app updates. Check the current help pages of the tool you choose instead of relying on older screenshots.

Choosing a replacement for Houseparty screen sharing

Pick a tool based on what you want to share and who you share it with:

• Casual calls with friends or watching something together: Discord is widely used for group voice and video with screen sharing.
• Work or school presentations: Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams all offer screen sharing, typically with options to share a window or the full screen.
• Mixed devices in one group: confirm that the tool supports sharing on every platform involved, especially phones and tablets, before the call starts.
• Sharing video or game sound: look for an explicit option to include computer audio, and test it once with a friend.

Before a first session, run a short test call. Check that the operating system permission is granted, that others can see the shared window clearly, and that your camera and microphone still work while sharing.

Limits and related questions

Privacy depends on what you capture. Sharing the entire screen can expose notifications, open tabs, file names and messages. Sharing one window reduces this risk, and turning on do-not-disturb mode during the call helps further. Recording, storage and data handling are set by each service's own policies and your account settings. Verify those details for the specific tool rather than assuming a call or recording stays private.

If you can't see a share option, the cause is usually one of these: the app version doesn't support it on that platform, the system permission was denied, or the meeting host has restricted sharing. If the shared screen appears black, the operating system often blocked the capture, or the content is protected from recording. Granting permission and restarting the app commonly resolves the first case. Protected video playback may still not appear in a share.

Did Houseparty ever offer screen sharing? Feature sets varied across its versions while it was active. Since the service is closed, the answer has no practical effect on what you can do now.