Best Platforms for Live Video Streaming

Best Platforms for Live Video Streaming: The first step towards the right choice is comprehensive research. You should be aware of the most popular market offers to pick the one that meets your needs the best. We collected the basic information about top 5 streaming video platforms.

Best Platforms for Live Video Streaming

• Brightcove

The Brightcove Console system manages all the videos running on this platform. This is a powerful CMS for creating and modifying various videos. The platform provides services to many TV and media companies.

• Livestream

Livestream is another great tool for Android broadcast live video creation. Everything a user needs is a device with a camera and Internet connection. You can view the videos stored on this platform on any mobile gadget.

• Contus VPlay

This platform is considered a great solution for educational purposes. Fast and seamless direct streaming powered by the platform is great for interaction between the users.

• UStream

The Ustream platform mostly caters to the needs of large businesses. The powerful functionality and reliable support create great conditions for that.

• Wowza

If content security means a lot for you, Wowza is a great choice. It is also featured with functionality that allows creating catchy previews.

iOS and Android Development Features

iOS and Android occupy the leading positions on the mobile market. At the same time, they are completely different. To take a high-quality live video streaming app to life you should also know about the development specifics.

• iOS specific features

The Free BSD core lies at the basis of iOS. This is the reason this operating system is the best choice for embedded tools and heavy-load servers. To build an iOS video streaming app you need the help of a competent Objective-C or Swift specialist.

• Android specific features

Unlike iOS, Android is based on the Linux kernel. The Android apps are written in Java or Kotlin. Take note that Kotlin is a better choice for mobile development, and is featured with many functions for great video processing.

4 Most Successful Mobile Video Apps for Your Inspiration

If you still lack the inspiration to start building your application, take a look at the most popular and successful live video streaming apps:

• Youtube, the best video platform of all times with about 1 billion active users;
• Twitch with more than 9.7 million active daily users and more than 2 million monthly streamers;
• Periscope with more than 10 million users worldwide;
• Bigo, a mobile streaming video platform with great chat features and more than 2 million active users.

This list of great mobile video streaming apps is far from complete. Facebook Live, Snapchat or Instagram live stories have won the attention of millions of daily users as well. And in the world of online business, every watcher is a potential customer, and thus, makes a contribution to your future revenue.

Diving Deeper into Technical Specifics

This all sounds quite obvious and easy to implement. However, there are some deeper technical aspects you should be aware of.

First of all, it is crucial to establish a streaming video creation pattern. For example, use the following sequence:

1. Capturing the video;
2. Converting data into a format suitable for streaming like H.264;
3. Storing the streams in media containers like FLV or MP4;
4. Using the RTMP transport protocol for content delivery.

Conversion is also called encoding. And the H.264 format is one of the most innovative and powerful options for video compression. Its most important feature is the fact that the format has high compression capabilities while keeping decent image quality.

Besides that, you need to decide on a way to deliver content. It may be:

• either direct delivery when the video is streamed to predefined viewers,
• or delivery with intermediate storage when there is a server platform between the streamer and viewers.

Both ways are suitable for both Android and iOS video streaming. But no doubt, the second option provides more opportunities. The delivery with intermediate storage provides the user with the possibility to come back and watch the video later. So, most businesses implement this practice in their solutions. But here a new challenge appears. How to choose a platform for live streaming apps?

Final Thoughts

Preparing to take the live video streaming niche by storm, you need to do comprehensive research of this topic and the competitors, define your goals accurately, and find a reliable development partner. The application development cost is another significant question. Our company’s specialists can provide you with a detailed consultation on this subject. We are ready to answer your questions and help you get closer to achieving your business goals.