Facebook testing live video and collages on iOS

Live videos function as a way to share different experiences in real-time, whether it is cooking from a favorite recipe, visiting a new place or simply sharing a thought. The feature will function similarly to Periscope and Meerkat, with one major difference.

Celebrities who have sent out live broadcasts through the Facebook Mentions app since the launch include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart and Michael Bublé. “No matter where you are, Live lets you bring your friends and family right next to you to experience what’s happening together”. People sharing videos via Live can write descriptions and choose their target audiences before launching broadcasts, and they can track the number and names of viewers, along with comments, while the video streams.

In addition to live video streaming between users, Facebook is also adding the ability to create live collages.

Live videos of users’ friends and people they follow would also show up in their news feed as well.

Initially the live video attribute of Facebook will soon be accessible exclusively to a modest fraction of men and women in the U.S. and will likely be restricted to iPhones. “While watching a live video, you can tap the Subscribe button to get notified the next time the broadcaster goes live”, they add. “When you end your broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later”, they say.

The world’s largest social network is testing a new feature that will enable its 1.5 billion users to use their smartphones to shoot video so other people can see what they are doing as it happens.

The collage feature was the next update, with which users can group photos along with videos into a tiled collage. When you open Photo, you will see recent moments from your camera roll organised into collages.

For now, only the iOS app has been updated with this feature, though Android users don’t need to bet disheartened as the feature will be rolling out on the platform early next year. Another popular app called Meerkat also can be used to share live video in social circles.