Screen Sharing

CometChat Calls SDK v5 — Screen Sharing

Overview

The Android Calls SDK can receive and display screen shares initiated from web clients. Android does not support initiating screen sharing. The call layout automatically adjusts to display shared content.

Key Imports

import com.cometchat.calls.core.CallSession
import com.cometchat.calls.listeners.ParticipantEventListener
import com.cometchat.calls.model.Participant

Implementation

Listen for Screen Share Events

val callSession = CallSession.getInstance()

callSession.addParticipantEventListener(this, object : ParticipantEventListener() {
    override fun onParticipantStartedScreenShare(participant: Participant) {
        Log.d(TAG, "${participant.name} started screen sharing")
        // Layout auto-adjusts to show shared screen
    }
    override fun onParticipantStoppedScreenShare(participant: Participant) {
        Log.d(TAG, "${participant.name} stopped screen sharing")
        // Layout returns to normal
    }
    // ... other required overrides
    override fun onParticipantJoined(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantLeft(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantListChanged(participants: List<Participant>) {}
    override fun onParticipantAudioMuted(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantAudioUnmuted(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantVideoPaused(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantVideoResumed(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantStartedRecording(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantStoppedRecording(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantHandRaised(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onParticipantHandLowered(participant: Participant) {}
    override fun onDominantSpeakerChanged(participant: Participant) {}
})

Check Presenter Status

override fun onParticipantListChanged(participants: List<Participant>) {
    val presenter = participants.find { it.isPresenting }
    if (presenter != null) {
        Log.d(TAG, "${presenter.name} is sharing their screen")
    }
}

Configure Session Settings

Since Android cannot initiate screen sharing, you may want to hide the screen share-related UI:

val sessionSettings = CometChatCalls.SessionSettingsBuilder()
    // No hideScreenSharingButton — the SDK does not show a screen share
    // initiation button on Android since it's not supported
    .build()

Gotchas

• Android cannot initiate screen sharing — only web clients can
• The SDK automatically adjusts the layout when a screen share starts
• Use participant.isPresenting to check if someone is sharing
• Consider hiding the screen share button on Android since it's not functional for initiating
• Screen share events are only available via ParticipantEventListener (onParticipantStartedScreenShare / onParticipantStoppedScreenShare) — MediaEventsListener does not have screen share callbacks

Sample App Reference

• CallActivity.kt — Session settings configuration