Ustream Finally Becomes An All-In-One Viewing And Broadcasting App

Monday marked a big day for the Ustream community with iDevices. The broadcasting service finally provided a version of their iOS app that not only combines viewing content and allows a user to begin their own live stream right from within the same app, but also fills it with some useful features and a solid user interface. Up until this release, Ustream fans needed to have the Ustream Viewing Application app for viewing and the Ustream Live Broadcaster to push out their own content. Trimmed down to simply titled Ustream, v2.0 combines both apps into a single tool, therefore, making a much more efficient experience. The Ustream app is updated through the App Store and users can just delete Ustream Live Broadcaster from their iDevices. Tap on the camera icon in the top-right to start a new live streaming session or record a video for later posting. The broadcasting UI has the expected number of viewers and time display, front and rear camera selection on supported devices, LED flash adjustment on supported devices, chat access, poll management, and more. The viewing portion consists of Featured, Favorites, Categories, and Search. The featured section includes currently active live shows, upcoming scheduled shows, and recent videos. Join Ustream Crowds to get alerts and easily follow your favorite channels. As usual, you can participate in live chats and polls during a show. Under the More section are Alerts, Favorites, My broadcasts, and Settings. Within the Settings pane there are options for default show, default camera on supported devices, social-networking sharing options to advise fans when you begin a show, and whether or not you wish to share your broadcasting location. Video transmission quality over Wi-Fi -- either Normal or Low, network quality display, and system status bar can be toggled in the Advanced section of the Settings area. I personally think this new approach is certainly much better, and can finally be considered a true iOS app experience. I'm sure users will find something to suggest in improving, however, it's definitely a much better groundwork. It seems I'm not alone in my positive feeling as the iTunes rating has jumped from two-stars to four-stars. There is one final thing.

Known issue: Under poor network conditions, video may switch to an audio-only stream which is currently a blank screen. This will be fixed with the iOS 4.3 update.

Ustream is designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.0 or later. Download a free copy in the App Store now.