GuidedView vs Google Meet: a meeting code or a link during the call

At a glance

What is Google Meet?

Google Meet is Google's video meeting service. It comes with every personal Google account and with Google Workspace, the paid suite many small businesses already pay for. People join a meeting with a link or meeting code and can present their screen from the Meet app on iPhone or Android, or from a computer browser. Meet is free for personal accounts, with one-to-one meetings of up to 24 hours and meetings of three or more people capped at 60 minutes. Paid Workspace plans add business features, and Business Standard and higher plans add meeting recording. Guests can join without a Google Account, but someone in the meeting has to let them in. For a business that already runs on Google Workspace, Google Meet is a natural choice for scheduled calls with customers. It is built around meetings, though, so a customer who is already on the phone with you has to join one before you can see their screen.

Can Google Meet share an iPhone or Android screen?

Yes, from the Google Meet app. On iPhone, the customer joins the meeting, taps the screen, taps More, then Share screen and Start Sharing. They can also tap Share Screen instead of Join to enter the meeting only to present, then tap Continue and Start Broadcast. The Meet app needs iOS 17 or later.

On Android, the steps are the same (More, Share screen, Start Sharing), with an optional checkbox to share audio, and the app needs Android 5.0 or later. Google's help pages document phone sharing in the Meet app, so plan on the customer installing it. Meet Help does not document a pause for a phone share; the customer can stop sharing. On Android 15 and later, Android itself hides notification content and password fields from people viewing a screen share.

What does the customer have to do before you see the screen?

1. Install the Meet app

   On a phone, Google recommends the Meet app, and phone screen sharing is documented there.

2. Open the link or enter the code

   The customer needs your meeting link or meeting code.

3. Ask to join, if not signed in

   Customers who are not signed in to a Google Account tap Ask to join and wait for the organizer or a participant to let them in. Workspace admins can also restrict who can join.

4. Share the screen

   Tap More, then Share screen, then Start Sharing.

With GuidedView, the customer opens the one-time link you texted or emailed, confirms they are on a call with you, taps Share and approves their device's own screen-sharing prompt. There is no meeting to join and nobody to admit. Customers need no account of any kind.

What happens to the phone call?

A Meet screen share happens inside a Meet meeting. Google lets people dial in to a meeting by phone for audio only, if the admin allows it, but only for meetings organized by a Google Workspace user, and the dial-in connects to Meet's own bridge rather than the line you are already on. In practice, the customer either keeps your call going while also running a meeting, or moves the conversation into Meet.

GuidedView does not touch the call. Both people keep talking on their normal phone line while the agent watches the screen in a browser on a computer or phone. Our guide to seeing a customer's screen during a phone call shows the full flow.

How does Google Meet pricing compare?

If your team already pays for Google Workspace, Meet costs nothing extra, and the free 24-hour limit for one-to-one meetings is generous for support. Check Google's pricing page for current billing terms and any promotions. GuidedView is one plan at $29.99 a month per account; see GuidedView pricing.

Which should you choose?

If most customer conversations are scheduled video meetings, Meet is hard to beat on price. If they start as phone calls, GuidedView keeps them there. You can also compare GuidedView vs Zoom, or create an account.