YouTube Live Streaming Debuts on iPhone and iPad
YouTube live streaming is now available to subscribers with 10,000 or more followers on the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. With the new feature, Google hopes to compete with similar streaming options available through Facebook and Twitter.
In bringing the feature out of beta, Google notes “it’s a launch that’ll put the power of live streaming in the hands of hundreds of thousands of talented creators, giving them a more intimate and spontaneous way to share their thoughts, lives, and creativity.”
To get started with live streaming, all you have to do is hit the capture button via the YouTube app. Once you do, you’re live. Streaming videos include the same features as regular YouTube videos. They can be searched for, found via recommendations or playlists, and protected from unauthorized use.
As part the rollout, Google has also announced a new way to earn revenue. With Super Chat, fans watching a live stream can purchase chat messages which are highlighted in bright colors and stay pinned to the top of the chat window for up to five hours.
They note:
Super Chat gives viewers a chance to add a little visual flair to their chats and gives creators a new way to keep connected to their fans while earning a little money on the side, let’s say for example, while shopping at Target or playing video games :)
Don’t have 10,000 YouTube followers? Won’t worry. The live streaming feature is coming to everyone else “soon.”
Live streaming is just the latest new feature to arrive on YouTube in recent months. In November the service added a progress bar that indicates how far into a video you’ve watched. New filters and search improvements also recently arrived.
It will be interesting to see just how quickly YouTube live streaming comes to those with less than 10,000 users. Given the competition, it probably won’t take long.