YouTube updates Live with ‘ultra-low latency’ streaming

YouTube is aiming to make live content creation “easier and more accessible” with new features like ultra low latency streaming and chat moderation tools.

YouTube said that ‘ultra-low latency’ makes it possible for users to stream video “with just a couple seconds of latency”, allowing them to answer fan questions and get viewer input faster than ever before.

Users will be able to switch to ‘ultra-low latency’ – as opposed to normal, or low latency – from the stream options menu and wouldn’t need any software or encoders to make it work.

The new chat tools are designed to make it easier for users to moderate live chats and to “shape the tone” of their conversations.

Inline moderation lets a user pause the chat feed in order to moderate it by removing or approving messages. YouTube is also now offering to hold “potentially inappropriate” for review.

“By opting-in, chat messages identified by our system will be held from posting on your streams, then you decide whether to approve, hide, or report them (just like you can with comments),” said YouTube Live product lead, Kurt Wilms in a company blog post.

“Best part is, as you review more messages the system will get better at identifying the types of messages you want to hold for review. If you want to block certain words or phrases, you can do that too.”

Finally YouTube is also making it easier for users to stream directly from various YouTube apps direct to YouTube – something that is already possible to do to its dedicated videogame service YouTube Gaming thanks to Apple’s ReplayKit.

“Now we’re bringing the feature to the main YouTube app so you can live stream your painting from Procreate, your race from Asphalt 8, your MOBA gameplay from Vainglory and more from any app that supports ReplayKit,” said Wilms.

“You’ll also be able to use your phone’s microphone and front-facing camera to add your own video and audio commentary to the stream.”