March 24, 2016 - 15:16 AMT
Google building YouTube Connect livestreaming app: report

Google has quietly been building a new livestreaming app called YouTube Connect, VentureBeat reports exclusively.

This service highlights the company’s efforts to double down on live video while also placing it in a position to compete directly against Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live. YouTube Connect will be available on both iOS and Android devices.

YouTube Connect has much of the same functionality that Periscope and Facebook Live, VentureBeat cites sources close to the matter as saying. You can log into the app using your Google or YouTube account and immediately begin streaming from your mobile phone. There are chat and tagging features, and a “news feed” that features the latest clips from your friends or those that you’ve subscribed to on YouTube.

Videos will be viewable live within the app, as well as on the YouTube site in their respective channels.