Google Meet Live Sharing SDK overview

The Google Meet Live Sharing SDK lets you improve your apps to include co-watching, co-doing, and other Meet experiences for your users.

There are two parallel APIs available: one aimed at supporting co-watching scenarios, and the other aimed at more general co-doing activities. While it's possible to build your own implementation of co-watching using the co-doing client, it requires a lot more effort on the part of the API consumer to ensure correct handling of latency and buffering issues. Conversely, we don't recommend using the co-watching client to support any kind of co-gaming scenario.

The following is a list of common terms used in this SDK:

Android Application Package (APK)
An Android application package file for installation on an Android device. The compressed file is distributed to Android users for installation onto their devices. (Applicable to Android Live Sharing apps only.)
Co-Doing
Syncs arbitrary app content, letting users to get together to perform an activity like playing video games or follow the same workout regimen.
Co-Watching
Syncs streaming app content across devices in real time, and lets users take turns sharing videos and playing the latest hits from their favorite artist. Users can share controls such as starting and pausing a video, or selecting new content in the app.
Picture-in-picture (PiP)
PiP is a type of multi-window mode mostly used for video playback. It lets users watch a video in a small window pinned to a corner of the screen while navigating between apps or browsing content on the main screen. (Applicable to Android and iOS Live Sharing apps only.)
Software Development Kit (SDK)
A software development toolkit is a set of tools and programs provided by hardware and software vendors that developers can use to build apps for specific platforms.
  • To learn about developing with Google Workspace APIs, including handling authentication and authorization, refer to Get started as a Workspace developer

  • To learn how to set up and run a Meet Live Sharing SDK Android app, read the Android get started page.

  • To learn how to set up and run a Meet Live Sharing SDK Web app, read the Web get started page.