After extensive testing of Apple’s SharePlay, it became clear that this feature embodies the essence of casual co-watching and co-listening. In contrast, Google’s Meet offers a version that feels less refined. The differences between the two are striking, with one providing an almost invisible and effortless experience, while the other resembles a public beta fraught with challenges.
SharePlay’s secret sauce is system-level sync and control polish
SharePlay transcends being merely a button in FaceTime; it is integrated at the operating system level. Apple has meticulously embedded synchronization into its media stack, ensuring that play, pause, scrubbing, and timecodes remain perfectly aligned for all participants. This feature is also DRM-compliant, allowing each user to stream their own feed without falling prey to the pitfalls of piracy, while avoiding the clunky artifacts often associated with screen sharing. Developers can leverage the GroupActivities framework, eliminating the need for individual apps to create their own sync logic. The result is low latency, reliable controls, and sessions that remain stable even when a participant switches apps or receives notifications.
In practice, the simplicity of SharePlay is almost disarming. Initiating a FaceTime call and opening any supported app, such as YouTube or Disney+, prompts a SharePlay invitation. With a simple acceptance, everyone is seamlessly engaged in the same viewing experience, complete with shared transport controls. Audio levels adjust appropriately, picture-in-picture functions flawlessly, and transitioning the session to an Apple TV is instantaneous, with no delay. The mental effort required to enjoy this experience is minimal.
Google’s Live Sharing does the basics no favors in Meet
In contrast, Google’s Live Sharing feature within Meet presents a more cumbersome experience. While it theoretically supports platforms like YouTube and Spotify, along with a few simple games, the initial hurdles are significant. Users must navigate through various menus, encounter an explanatory sheet, and then switch to the app, all while hoping for a confirmation pop-up that may not always appear. When it does function, the process requires multiple taps before anything actually plays.
This leads to an unsettling uncertainty: Will everyone hear the audio? Is the experience consistent across different Android devices? Can someone rejoin a session without disrupting the flow? Such uncertainties can be frustrating, particularly in casual settings where the goal is to relax and enjoy time with friends. The multi-step process of accessing Live Sharing can leave participants feeling disconnected, much like cold takeout left waiting for a movie to start.
In real-world side-by-side use, SharePlay just works
SharePlay facilitates spontaneous viewing during a FaceTime chat, allowing participants to enjoy synchronized playback within seconds. Everyone can scrub, pause, and react in perfect harmony, eliminating the need for a designated host and ensuring that no one feels like a mere spectator. The technology seamlessly integrates into the conversation, allowing group dynamics to flourish naturally.
Conversely, Live Sharing in Meet often feels like a tutorial session. Users must guide others through the process, repeating steps for latecomers and troubleshooting approval sheets that vary among participants. While this experience can occasionally work, it rarely fades into the background as effective platform features should.
The ecosystem gap matters more than features on a spec sheet
SharePlay boasts extensive support across major video services such as Disney+, Max, Prime Video, and Paramount+, along with music apps like Apple Music and Spotify. It even extends to educational and productivity software, as well as fitness sessions that sync metrics during conversations. Apple prioritizes group sessions in its developer documentation, establishing them as a first-class API, which fosters thoughtful integrations like shared annotations in document apps or seamless transitions to Apple TV.
In comparison, Meet’s offerings are limited, primarily focusing on YouTube and a select few partners. Fragmentation within Google’s ecosystem complicates the user experience, as co-watching features exist in various forms across different platforms—YouTube’s co-watching, RCS reactions in Messages, and Chromecast casting—without a cohesive user journey. Ironically, Google possesses a broader range of devices, from Android TVs to Nest displays, yet the integration remains lacking.
Why Apple’s approach feels polished across devices and apps
Apple’s dual-platform strategy provides a distinct advantage. SharePlay is synchronized and permissioned at the system level, rather than being an add-on to individual applications. Additionally, its rights management aligns with how studios prefer their content to be delivered, ensuring that each viewer authenticates with their own subscription. This adherence to publisher guidelines enhances app distribution, a principle recognized by industry analysts for years.
Scale also plays a crucial role. With billions of devices in circulation, Apple’s ecosystem ensures that features integrated into daily routines are universally adopted—no downloads or new apps needed to convince friends to join in.
How Google can bridge the gap with smarter, tighter integration
To enhance its offering, Google should simplify access to Live Sharing by integrating it into system media controls and Android’s share sheet, rather than burying it within Meet. When a user plays a video in YouTube during a Meet call, the two applications should collaborate seamlessly without requiring a convoluted detour.
Furthermore, Google could benefit from developing a unified Group Activities API for Android, facilitating synchronized playback, shared controls, identity handoff, and smooth device switching. This consistency would encourage broader adoption across Meet, Messages, and YouTube.
Investing in Google’s hardware advantages could also prove beneficial. Enabling instant transitions to Chromecast or Android TV while maintaining the call would enhance the user experience. Reliability should be prioritized, eliminating mysterious prompts, confusion over hosting, and ensuring a smooth DRM experience.
Lastly, expanding the catalog beyond YouTube and a limited selection of games, while securing the necessary licensing deals for synchronized, per-user streams, would empower developers to create meaningful integrations.
The bottom line: one seamless experience, one still catching up
Ultimately, SharePlay resonates with how people naturally engage in conversation and shared viewing. In contrast, Google’s Live Sharing appears to be a feature in search of a cohesive platform. Until discoverability, reliability, and ecosystem support improve, one experience is likely to overshadow the other, leaving the latter feeling unfinished.
