Facebook is rolling out a series of updates to its Live video service aimed at general users.
Chief among the expansions is the option to broadcast for even longer. Facebook has extended the time length of live-streams for all users to four hours, that’s double the original duration. The update still doesn’t match the 24-hour streams available to Facebook’s media partners, but it should satisfy users wishing to create epic videos.
Additionally, streamers can now broadcast in full-screen, in both portrait and landscape mode on iOS. Android, on the other hand, is restricted to the former for now, although
There are also new modifications aimed at streamlining the viewing experience. A new “video-only” option hides comments and reactions — which tend to flood clips from popular pages — allowing for a more immersive experience. Both broadcasters and viewers can activate or deactivate the mode (by swiping left or right) during a stream — this essentially allows streamers to block out any distractions if they wish to focus purely on the video instead of interactions.
The latest slate of features follows last month’s updates, announced at VidCon, which included the ability to broadcast with another person situated in a different location. Additionally,
The new updates reveal that
However, a number of recent events — including a protest by Democrats in Congress, an attempted coup in Turkey, and the harrowing death of Philando Castlie — saw
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