Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Google video-sharing app Uptime now available to all users on iOS

By Lulu Chang June 26, 2017

uptime video sharing app screen shot 2017 03 13 at 8 36 31 am — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Update: In the latest version for Uptime, the app is now officially available to all users on iOS and includes a few new features.

If you and your friends all happen to be iPhone users and have been dying to watch a video together from across the country (or around the world), you officially can with Uptime. The app — which first launched in March and required an invite code — is now available for all users, according to TechCrunch.

In this day and age, you’re never really alone, even if there’s no one next to you. Driving home that idea, Google’s Uptime wants to make your video watching experience a more social one. Because who says you have to binge watch The Great British Baking Show all by your lonesome?

The new update also comes equipped with an easier-to-navigate home screen to see what’s on at the moment, Facebook Connect to find your friends, and now features music videos as well.

Developed by Google’s startup incubator Area 120, which was first established last year to encourage Google employees to come up with their own startup ideas, Uptime lets you connect with your friends via YouTube videos. Currently available exclusively for iPhone (we know that’s weird considering it’s … a Google product), the app simply requires you to sign in with your Google account, then find your friends. From there, you’ll be able to watch kitten videos (or whatever else you find on YouTube) together in real time, and provide commentary by way of Facebook Live-esque emojis and written comments as you watch.

We’re sure no one will be surprised to hear that the UI looks much like Snapchat’s, because apparently everyone is looking to borrow from the same source these days. But even so, Uptime certainly serves a different purpose from that of existing social media platforms, allowing users to gather around different screens, together.

The app is free to download for iOS.

Download for iOS

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

Mobile

Google is killing off its lightweight YouTube Go app

Three phone screens showing the new Android 12 Go Edition.

Google is killing off its lightweight YouTube Go app, an app designed for phones with low storage and limited access to robust LTE and 5G networks. The company cites improvements to the mainstream YouTube app that rendered this service redundant. The app will remain available for download in the Play Store until August. The app boiled down YouTube to its essentials and stripped away things that weren't necessary like commenting, posting, or creating videos.

"When we launched YouTube Go in 2016, it was designed for viewers in locations where connectivity, data prices, and low-end devices prevented us from delivering the best experience in the main YouTube app. Since then, YouTube has invested in improvements to the main YouTube app that make it perform better in these environments, while also delivering a better user experience which is inclusive of our entire community," the YouTube team said.

Mobile

Twitter lets iOS users turn their video recording into a GIF

We've been waiting forever to get an "Edit" button, but Twitter applied a new feature that's just as good. On Tuesday, it gave iOS users the ability to record GIFs straight from the in-app camera.

Recording GIFs directly on Twitter saves minutes of your time trying to convert a long prerecorded video from your phone's album on other GIF platforms like GIPHY. You simply press new tweet, tap the camera icon, set it into GIF mode if it's not there already, and press and hold the record button. Then you can set the GIF to play in a loop similar to Instagram's Boomerang, or have it play from the beginning.

Mobile

Want the Google Pixel’s astrophotography on your iPhone? There’s an app now

Nocturne brings a sort of Google Pixel astrophotography to the iPhone.

One of the premiere features offered on Google Pixel phones starting with the Pixel 4 has been astrophotography. The Google Pixel 4 and above are capable of creating great shots of the stars in the sky by taking a series of exposures over a long period of time and then stitching them together for one long exposure. It's really incredible how much detail in the night sky can be captured using the phone in your hand. Until recently, that has been a Pixel-exclusive feature.

So naturally, when I came across an app that claimed to do the same thing on the iPhone, I was intrigued. Nocturne is a free app available now that can accomplish much of what astrophotography can but on an iPhone. Nocturne is developed by Unistellar, whose primary business is in telescopes. Its latest product, the eVscope 2, is a digital motorized telescope that has some neat features. That's a conversation for another time. What's interesting for me is that Nocturne is able to bring astrophotography to non-Pixel devices.
Here's how it works
Getting back to Nocturne, the app accomplishes much of what you'll see on the Pixel's astrophotography mode but on the iPhone. It works by taking a series of exposures and stitching them together, similar to what Google does with the Pixel and the results are pretty slick.