Ryan Haines / Android Authority
SharePlay isn’t new. It’s been around on Apple devices for a few years now, allowing you to team up with friends or family to watch something together, syncing video streams over a video call. It’s a handy tool when your loved ones aren’t in the same location. As with everything Apple, you can’t use it outside of the walled garden, so Android users are left out.
To counter that, Google made its own version of SharePlay (I don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of it), but it leaves you wanting more — much more. After a moment of using it, I thought, “That’s it? That’s all it does?”
I tried both SharePlay and Google’s alternative side by side to see what exactly Apple does to make its version so much better — and what Google needs to do to enhance its community features, which are currently so lacking that it’s embarrassing.
Be honest — did you even know Google has its own version of SharePlay? 5 votes Yes, use it all the time 20 % I've tried it, but it's not my thing 0 % Heard of it, never used 0 % Nope, first time hearing this 80 %
Why SharePlay is so good
Mahmoud Itani / Android Authority
SharePlay isn’t part of my regular routine since most of my video calls happen on WhatsApp, while SharePlay requires FaceTime. But when I finally tried it, I wondered why I hadn’t used it before. I’d switch to FaceTime completely for this feature alone when I want to watch something with my people. It’s that seamless.
I FaceTimed my sister, and in the middle of a conversation about a movie trailer, we decided to watch it together and give our expert opinions — how well the movie might do at the box office and whether the music was just meh.
During the call, I just opened YouTube, and the SharePlay option appeared. Once I selected it, my sister got an invite to join — and just like that, we were watching the same YouTube video, pausing and playing in the middle to dissect every scene in detail as if we were film critics.
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