If you’re looking for a way to make your social-distancing series binge more, well, social, there are browser extensions that let you host watch parties digitally. Although you can stream and text, FaceTime, or share your screen on Zoom, sometimes that just doesn’t cut it.
You can start a new account from here if you don’t already have one, but be warned that Ustream might not display your broadcast or recordings until you’ve logged in via the website and accepted the EULA and privacy policy.Even a favorite stay-at-home activity like watching TV can get lonely sometimes, especially if you’re used to hanging out with your friends and watching together. The Ustream app will prompt you to log in. The Ustream Android phone app splash screen.
Once it has finished installing, open it and press Go Live at the main menu (or if you’re on a tablet, touch the camera icon in the upper-right corner). You can download the current Ustream Android app from the Android Market. How to Stream Live Video From Your Android Smartphone or Tabletĭon’t worry, Android fans–you aren’t left out of the mobile-video fun.
Your Ustream feed will look like this in a Web browser. That’s it! Of course, you may want to open your stream in a Web page to see how it looks to your viewers. Once your stream has started, you can tap the screen to bring up the options wheel, which includes settings for starting polls in your channel’s chat room, flipping between the device’s front and rear camera, muting the microphone, and showing or hiding the chat room for interacting with your viewers. Once you pick a quality level, your broadcast will be live, and anyone can view your live feed at yourusername. You can also type in a brief description of what you’re broadcasting, and share it via Facebook or Twitter. If yours is good enough, you can opt for the HQ Broadcast option otherwise, you’ll have to stick with the normal-quality broadcast. The app will automatically assess the quality of your Internet connection.