YouTube has announced that it is adding live streaming to its mobile app. The online video source has been offering the service since 2011 when it shared the Royal Wedding with millions of viewers. The site says it will now be even easier for all YouTube creators and viewers to access and use live streaming videos.

According to a press release put out by the site, the mobile live streaming content will have all the features of regular videos. They will be searchable, and users will be able to find the videos through recommendations and playlists.


In terms of usability, YouTube mobile live streaming is written into the core of the site's mobile app. Users will be able to simply hit the big red capture button in the corner, take or select a photo to use as a thumbnail, and broadcast live to fans and chat in near real time.

This new announcement from YouTube comes as competing online sites such as Twitter are also adjusting to support native live video.

According to YouTube, one-sixth of the Internet watched Felix Baumgartner leap from space live on YouTube in 2012, and over 21 million people tuned in to watch Coachella on YouTube, almost twice as many as tuned in to watch the season finale of American Idol.

YouTube has launched its mobile streaming service with The Young Turks , AIB , Platica Polinesia , SacconeJolys , and Alex Wassabi at VidCon and will be rolling the service out more widely soon.