If you haven’t heard, Google has launched the YouTube WatchMe for Android project. The goal for this new project is to allow Android developers to integrate live streaming within their apps. YouTube’s WatchMe project practically brings the same live broadcasting capabilities that you’ve seen in great apps like Live on YouTube which is created by Xperia and Re which is by HTC. Live streaming directly from apps can do wonders for many Android developers who wish to implement the project into their app. Live streaming support opens up many doors of opportunity for developers grow and flourish their apps with new features.
Just like many other projects ran by Google, YouTube WatchMe for Android is an opensource project that is currently available on GitHub. The project harnesses a few YouTube API’s such as Data API v3, YouTube Live Streaming API, Google Play Services and Plus API. Google has given developers the option to customize the code just for their apps. In addition, the GitHub supported project allows people to contribute to YouTube WatchMe by filing merge requests for new features or submitting bug reports. Pretty much, Google has given everyone a template that can be adjusted and tweaked by developers to fit their needs.
According to Google, the app is still classified as an experimental project. With other apps like Live on YouTube and Re, Google’s “experimental” project will more than likely come to life and added as another tool for developers to use when creating apps. Like I was saying earlier, this project is going to open a door full of opportunities that developers will relish in. Since the project has gone public and available to use by people like you and me, ideas are probably splurging left and right on what can be done with in app live streaming. We’ve seen live streaming of video games explode in recent years, taking that simple platform and implementing it inside of an app will take things to a whole new level. If you are interested in toying around with YouTube WatchMe, you can follow this link to the GitHub page. Instructions on how to properly use everything can be found here on YouTube’s API blog.
