YouTube has rolled out several improvements to its live streaming functionality on mobile devices.
YouTube has made it possible to engage in real-time interactions with viewers during live streams thanks to a new ultra-low latency mode. Switching to the ultra-low latency setting drops latency down to just a couple of seconds, which is short enough to let people answer fan questions or respond to viewer input in near real-time. Google says the mode is easy to operate and doesn’t require any coding.
YouTube for iOS now lets people stream content from within select apps directly to YouTube. In other words, users can push their app experience and/or screen to YouTube Live in real-time. This particular feature relies on Apple’s ReplayKit, which third-party apps will need to support in order to enable live streaming. Google says a small selection of apps already do, including Procreate, Asphalt 8, and Vainglory
Plus, iPhone owners will be able to use their smartphone’s microphone and selfie camera to add their own commentary to the live app stream. Last, YouTube Live adopts new tools to make live chat moderation easier. For example, inline moderation lets broadcasters easily pause chat feeds, while a “hold” tool gives moderators a chance to review potentially inappropriate messages before they go live.
All these updates are headed to YouTube Live over the days ahead.
