google sheets - Getting a list of active file viewers with apps script

Question

I've been googling for a while but have come up with no results that tell me I can't, but no results telling me I can.

What I'm looking for is a way in apps script (or anything in their .NET/Java/Python...API) to give me a list of people who are actively looking at the sheet when I ask. I tried getViewers but it gives me a list of all people with access, not the ones looking at it currently. If I wanted to do some data manipulation but didn't want to do it when people where in the file, or if I wanted to save the user emails of people who were in the file. It seems like it's part of analytics but I can't find anything that does what I want.

We have a working version that does some on open magic/button script trigger but this requires the user to authorize and would like to improve the process and remove the authorization step.

Anyone know a way to pull the list of people who are currently viewing a sheet/doc/slide?

Answer 1

It seems that this is not yet supported in Google Apps Script. I've been searching for this feature but unfortunately can't also find anything related. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong or missed something related to this.) You're right that you can get the list of viewers but not the ones currently looking. I guess you can file a feature request for this.

If there is functionality missing from Apps Script that you would like to use, you can file a feature request on our Issue Tracker. Please describe the specific functionality you would like to see added, as well as reasons you think it's important. If possible, include specific details about your use case and the new opportunities the feature would allow for.