What you need to know
- Google appears to be working on a new Meet feature for live-sharing apps.
- The videoconferencing platform may soon let you share a YouTube video, a Spotify soundtrack or fun games with call participants.
- The upcoming feature will only supposedly support the Android version.
Google Meet is shaping up to be more than just a video-conferencing platform for work and school. The service will apparently pick up a new feature that will allow you to share your Spotify stream or watch YouTube videos together with participants in a call.
According to an app teardown performed by 9to5Google, Google is working on integrating various apps with Meet to take your call to a service that you want to live-share. In addition to YouTube and Spotify, compatible services include games like Kahoot!, Heads Up!, and UNO!, as well as task manager GQueues.
The potential change was spotted in the latest version of Meet (2022.07.24), which is rolling out via the Play Store. When or if it goes live for everyone, Google Meet will presumably display an icon for each app. When you want to share your session on any of these apps, Meet will apparently “take your call to a third-party app" instead of opening those apps within the call.
9to5 also spotted a string of code that suggests the upcoming capability will only be available on Android phones. It remains unclear, though, how Meet will share content from Spotify with other call participants that don't subscribe to the service. The feature is said to include an option to remotely pause or resume content that's being shared.
As for games like UNO! , the service will presumably create a new lobby where anyone can hop in on the fun with one tap. It might even be possible to play a shared game with call participants.
The upcoming feature has surfaced in the midst of Google Duo's transition to Meet. The combined app incorporates features from both of Google's best video conference software.
