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YouTube starts adding live streaming to iOS and Android apps

YouTube has announced that live streaming is coming to its mobile apps.

You might think that YouTube has supported live streaming for ages now, and to a certain extent it has. The Google-owned video giant started trialling the feature back in 2010, and broadcasted its first live event (the Royal wedding) in 2011.

But this live streaming function has only ever been open to a few verified accounts.

Now YouTube has taken a big step towards giving live broadcasting power to all of its users, announcing the limited rollout of a mobile broadcast function at VidCon.

“YouTube mobile live streaming will be baked right into the core YouTube mobile app,” explains the company on a YouTube Creator blog post.

Related: Euro 2016 Live Stream: How to watch every match online and mobile for free

“You won’t need to open anything else, just hit the big red capture button right there in the corner, take or select a photo to use as a thumbnail, and you can broadcast live to your fans and chat in near real time,” says YouTube.

As this feature will be built right into the YouTube app, live videos will have all the benefits of recorded content. You’ll be able to search for live content, have it recommended to you, and even protect it from unauthorised usage.

This mobile live streaming function is said to rolling out to selected creators initially, before a wider release at a later date.

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Are you looking forward to YouTube’s live streaming function, or has it arrived far too late? Let us know in the comments below.

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