If you don’t have access to your computer, you can join a Google Meet call using your Android phone. You can also change your Google Meet background using your Android phone to avoid distractions during the call. Apart from work related calls, you can also connect with your friends using Google Meet.
And to further enhance your experience, Google Meet brings the live sharing feature which allows you to co-watch YouTube videos with your friends and family. This article will show you how to use Google Meet Live Sharing feature on YouTube on your Android phone.
What is Google Meet Live Sharing
Like SharePlay in FaceTime on iPhone and iPad, Android users can now watch YouTube videos together in Google Meet with other participants. This feature is called Google Meet Live Sharing and will only be available if you use Google Meet and YouTube with the same Google Account. You also need to have a YouTube Premium subscription because this YouTube video live sharing feature is only available for Premium users.
You can’t co-watch YouTube videos on Google Meet for the following reasons:
- You have a paid Workspace account provided by your company. But those who have an individual Workspace account or a Google One Premium account can use this feature.
- You are under 18.
- You have a Family Link account.
You will need a strong internet connection on your Android phone to avoid any lag during the Google Meet call. If you have a dual-band router, prefer to use the 5GHz frequency band.
How to Use Google Meet Live Sharing on Android
Make sure you have updated the Google Meet and YouTube apps on your Android before beginning the steps. We will first show how to use Google Meet Live Sharing using the Meet app on your Android phone.
Step 1: Open the Meet app on your Android phone.
2nd step: Tap New in the lower right corner.
Step 3: Tap Create New Meeting.
Step 4: After creating the Meeting link, tap it to start the call.
You can tap Share invite to share the meeting link with your contacts.
Step 5: Tap the three vertical dots menu in the lower right corner.
Step 6: Tap Activities.
Step 7: Select YouTube from the list of applications.
Step 8: Tap Open YouTube.
Step 9: Once the YouTube app is open, tap on any video you want to co-watch.
Step 10: Tap Start to begin live sharing.
You will receive a notification that the live share has started.
To stop live sharing the YouTube video, tap the green stripe at the bottom and select Quit Live Sharing.
How to Share YouTube Videos on Google Meet
The steps mentioned above focus on how to use the Activities feature in Google Meet to co-watch YouTube videos. But now let us show you the steps to access the live sharing feature in the YouTube app to co-watch videos in Google Meet.
Step 1: Open Google Meet on your Android phone.
2nd step: Tap New in the lower right corner and start a new call.
Step 3: Close the Meet app and open YouTube on your Android phone.
The Meet window will appear as a picture-in-picture.
Step 4: Tap the video you want to watch together.
Step 5: Tap the Share icon.
Step 6: Select Meet Live Sharing.
Step 7: Tap Start to start watching the video with your Google Meet participants.
You can tap the green band at the bottom and select Quit Live Sharing to stop watching the YouTube video.
You can also read our article if Picture-In-Picture mode is not working on your Android phone.
YouTube Watch Party
Google Meet’s live sharing feature helps create a YouTube watch party with your friends and family to watch movie trailers, podcasts, and many other videos together. All you need is a strong internet connection and something interesting to share. But despite being connected to a fast Wi-Fi network, your Google Meet video can sometimes start acting up and ruining the co-watching experience.
If you are having issues with calls in Google Meet or in the app itself, you can refer to the solutions in our article on the best ways to fix Google Meet Video not working on Android.