How to watch live broadcasts on Instagram from a computer or smartphone

How to find a live broadcast

In earlier versions of the application, user streams could be found in the recommendations tab. In later versions of Instagram, the function was removed and viewing the live broadcast is possible only after subscribing to a specific blogger.

After subscribing to the blogger you are interested in, go to your personal feed and pay attention to the special “live broadcast” icon. By clicking on it, you will be taken to the broadcast.

Features of searching for live broadcasts on Instagram

To see the broadcast you are interested in, you need to find it.

During live activation you can:

1. Watch videos online.
2. Send comments by clicking on the inscription of the same name, then enter your text and send it. They are visible to all Instagrammers who watch the online broadcast.
3. Read others' comments that appear in the chat. If they appear so quickly that you do not have time to understand them, scroll to the desired comment.
4. Like your favorite public inclusion. To do this, click on the outline of the heart (located in the lower right corner), which after clicking will turn red.
5. Specify the number of users currently watching the broadcast (their number is indicated next to the eye-shaped icon in the upper right corner).

Anyone who follows an Instagrammer and appears in the list of his subscribers can join online inclusions.

To determine whose follower you are, click on “Following” in your profile.

You can find out about upcoming online broadcasts by reading new notifications. They are in the "What's New" section. It opens by clicking on the heart-shaped icon, located at the bottom of the toolbar.

How to watch live

The developers did not allocate a special place for viewing the live broadcast and decided to place them in the story feed; the only difference is a small inscription: “Live broadcast” under the story.

Via phone

1. To start viewing, you will need to click on such a publication.

2. A window will open where the broadcast will begin playing.

3. While watching, the user is allowed to: — get acquainted with the number of viewers; — read comments without opening an additional window; — comment and ask questions to the presenter; - send likes.

On the computer

The official website allows you to watch only stories and is not intended to interact with broadcasts. We provide several options to solve the problem:

IG Stories for Instagram

1. Install the extension for Google Chrome from the link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ig-stories-for-instagram/nilbfjdbacfdodpbdondbbkmoigehodg/related

2. After a short download, open it and start the stream of the user you need.

Blue Stacks

The next method involves using special software that emulates an Android device.

1. Follow the link and download the emulator to your computer. https://www.bluestacks.com/ru/index.html

2. Enter the data from your account in the play market and download Instagram.
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3. Next, open the program and select the live broadcast we need.

Is it possible to save or download a live video from Tik Tok?

Most often, Tik Tok is compared to Instagram. This is understandable - social networks are very similar, both are focused on visual content. People who decide to create an account will face the problem not only that the broadcast functionality is available with 1000 subscribers, but also that these features work here differently than on Insta. There the live broadcast is available for another day from the end, but in TT it will immediately disappear, there will be nothing to download.

Therefore, if you want to save a video while shooting, you must run third-party software. There are applications for screen capture, and there are special tools for Tik Tok. I will not give a selection - there are a lot of options on the online network, you just need to know how to search and download, and the differences between one or another option are too small.

How to watch a recording of a live broadcast

In 2021, the developers decided to allow users to briefly save broadcasts, which allows the audience to get acquainted with content that they were unable to watch live. The recording is stored for 24 hours and posted in stories.

1. You can determine the recording of the broadcast using a special live broadcast button. It frames a regular story with a small play icon under the thumbnail of the main profile image.

2. An additional advantage of viewing a recording is the rewind function, which allows you to skip uninteresting or unnecessary moments and watch a useful information summary.

Live broadcasts in Odnoklassniki on a computer

The full computer version has all the functions that allow you to view other people's broadcasts and create your own broadcasts, but publishing them will require the installation of an additional program.

Watching broadcasts

To watch active broadcasts on Odnoklassniki, you must first go to the “Video” section, and then go to the “Live Broadcast” tab in the left menu. Then you can switch between different broadcast genres, and to turn on one of them, just click on it.

In the broadcast window at the bottom of the video area there are buttons that allow you to pause or play the broadcast, as well as switch to the next one and adjust the sound. On the right side of the video window, you can set quality settings, as well as expand the broadcast to full screen. There is also a chat where you can read other people's messages and leave your own messages.

How to create a broadcast?

In the “Video” section of the website, click on the “Broadcast” button, after which you can choose exactly how the broadcast will be conducted: from a webcam, or through a special program. Starting a broadcast from a webcam is quite simple, so we will look at the professional option, which will require installing a special program, Open Broadcaster Software. To do this, click on “Application”.

On the next page, you will first need to allow Odnoklassniki access to information about the user’s current location (if you need to deny access, you can click on “Block”). Then here you can upload a special picture that will become the cover of this broadcast. On the left side, you should then indicate the title and description, as well as add keywords so that other people can more easily find the broadcast. Here you can also specify the broadcast visibility settings (select from the list “All users”, “Only friends”, or “Access only via link” for complete privacy). If the user has his own channel in Odnoklassniki, he can select it in the appropriate item. Also, if necessary, you can set the time at which this broadcast should start and end. Data from the “Server URL” and “Translation Key” must be copied for subsequent pasting into the program. In the “Advanced” section, you can answer the appropriate items if the user does not want to send notifications about the start of the broadcast, as well as if he wants to prohibit or allow the broadcast to be shown in specific countries (geo rules). In the delay section, the default setting is “Normal”, since with such a delay you can stream video in better quality, but here you can also reduce the delay (and at the same time the video quality). To confirm your actions and complete the broadcast setup within the site itself, click on the “Update settings” button.

How to set up the program?

First you need to download and install Open Broadcaster Software, and after launch you need to go to “File” - “Settings”.

Next, on the “Broadcasting” tab in the left menu, you need to select the “Custom” option in the “Service” item. In the column with “Server” you need to insert the value from the “URL server”, and in the “Stream Key” enter the value from the “Broadcast Key” in Odnoklassniki. After this, you can click on “Apply”.

On the “Output” tab, you need to specify the following parameters:

• In “Video Bitrate” you should set the value in accordance with your screen resolution (for example, for 1280x720 the value should be 2500);
• In the “Encoder” item you need to set the value to 128;
• In the “Encoder Preset” you need to select “veryfast”.

After this, you can click on the “Apply” button.

On the “Audio” tab, it is recommended to select 44.1Khz in the sampling frequency, and here you also need to indicate your playback device (Desktop Audio Device) and recording device (Mic/Auxiliary). Next, click on “Apply”.

On the “Video” tab, in the “Base resolution” item, you just need to leave the current resolution of your monitor, and in the “Output resolution” - what will be broadcast to viewers. In the "Scaling Filter" you should select "Bicubic". It is recommended to set the “General FPS values” to “30”. Finally, click “OK” to exit the settings window.

Next, on the main screen you need to set scenes and sources. Broadcast sources can be various objects, including a browser, a game, an image from a webcam, and so on. A scene is a set of sources that can be changed to quickly switch the broadcast image (for example, if there are several different cameras). After completing all the settings, you just need to click on the “Start broadcast” button.

After this, you can view your broadcast yourself, and to end it in the program, click on “End broadcast”.

How to watch live broadcast anonymously

After the user connects to the broadcast, the presenter receives a corresponding notification. Unfortunately, the developers didn't think about the desire to be anonymous, so you have 2 options:

Creating a second account

Create an additional account and view content anonymously from it. On our website you will find an article on the topic of creating a second account; you will not have to log out and register a login and password each time you log in, since the developers have provided for convenient movement between active profiles.

Ability to enable recording anonymously

It is impossible to reproduce the live broadcast in this way, but it is possible to make sure that no one knows that you are watching this broadcast. The moment you join it, all users present on it will see your nickname.

There are 2 ways in which you can become invisible:

1. Another account.
2. Special services.

You can choose one of them or use both, but alternately, so that no one becomes suspicious of you.

Other account

To create it, you need:

• log out of your main account and register again, but using a different name, phone number or email;
• create a second account inside the main one.

In the mobile application this is done this way:

1. Open Instagram.
2. Go to your profile. To do this, tap on the button that looks like a human bust.
3. Swipe left on the screen.
4. Click on “Add account” – “New”.
5. Enter a free nickname.
6. Select your login method. Don't forget that the profiles will not be merged, but the information and login information will be shared.

Also read: How to edit your profile name and nickname on Instagram

For secrecy, you can create several accounts.

Preparation

Before you start any live broadcast, there are a few things you should take care of, namely:

• Which microphone should I use for Youtube?
• Which video camera should I use for Youtube?
• Which phone is better to use for Youtube?

These are perhaps some of the most basic questions that any aspiring blogger should pay close attention to. Why is this so? It’s simple, if your video has poor sound or picture, then most of the users will pass by your channel.

How to download a recording of a broadcast to a computer?

Sometimes you need to save the broadcast in order to be able to review the video at any time. After all, sometimes they say really important things. The question is especially relevant for those who conduct sweepstakes through the broadcast interface - the resulting video would not hurt to upload to other social networks.

Everything is done quite simply - if you installed the extension that I mentioned above, you might have noticed that when viewing in the upper left corner you can find the “Download” button and select the save directory. This is how everything is easily solved; the plugin is one of the best tools for expanding the functionality of the web version of a social network.

Bitrate / broadcast bitrate

Now you should understand that the next definition for codecs is bitrate. This is very important to know. If you don't understand what bitrate is, then your viewers will experience poor quality or even worse - buffering, so please focus on that. The bitrate tells the codec what quality of stream you need. Typically measured in kilobits per second (kbps).

For example: 1000 kilobits per second. And means 1000 kilobits, so in this case you can also say 1 million bits per second.

Simply put, the higher the bitrate, the higher the quality. But if there is no transcoding on the broadcast server, then this will create problems for the end viewer. If his incoming Internet channel is not stable or is not fast enough for viewing, then the video and sound may stutter and freeze. Therefore, it is better to work with services that support real-time video transcoding; later we will talk in more detail about streaming services and analyze this point.

A bit is the basic unit of information in a computer. It is a variable with a value of 1 or 0. The computer knows how to read a stream of these values ​​and then know what to display on the computer screen.

Bits build everything we see on a computer screen. They are like atoms that build our universe. The more bits, the more complex and beautiful the videos and pictures. But they also require more processing power, larger hard drives and faster internet.

• The bitrate I set for my live streams depends on 3 inputs:
• The speed of my Internet connection.
• The video resolution I want.
• And the amount of movement during the event.

For example, if I want to broadcast a conference live, where there is no special dynamic movement in the frame, but only mostly conversations and presentation, I can choose:

• Resolution 720p (1280/720 pixels).
• Bitrate for video up to 2000 kb/s (H.264).
• Bitrate for audio up to 128 kb/s (AAC).

This should give me a clear picture and make really good sound. Accordingly, if there are more speakers in the frame, the bitrate needs to be increased. If the Internet channel on the site allows it, then we usually broadcast 1080p and 5000 kb, there is simply no need for more - the bandwidth of Youtube is a maximum of 6000 kb, VK and FB are about the same.

Live broadcasts in Odnoklassniki on mobile devices

To make it easier to view and create broadcasts on Odnoklassniki, a special application for mobile devices has been developed, called OK Live. You can download and install it on both Android and iOS.

Watching broadcasts

Immediately after installing and launching the application, it will automatically detect the user’s account (if the device has the official Odnoklassniki application) and offer to log in using this account. To do this, you just need to click “Yes, sign in.”

Next, the application will ask you to indicate the languages ​​​​that the user can speak in order to show only suitable broadcasts. Here you can mark several languages ​​at once, after which you should click on the “Save” button.

Next, the main window will open on the first tab with current and popular broadcasts. You can turn on one of the videos on this tab, or use a special search (the button with a magnifying glass in the upper right corner).

After opening the broadcast, the user can also leave a comment in the appropriate field below, or add a class. To exit the broadcast, click on the button with a cross at the top.

The next tab opens a news feed, which contains all the broadcasts that the user’s friends have rated.

On the fourth tab you can find broadcasts for specific regions, and by looking at this map you can understand that people from all over the world are broadcasting their videos.

The last tab displays important events, for example, the start of broadcasts of those people the user has subscribed to.

How to create a broadcast?

By clicking on the middle bottom button in the application, the user will be taken to the window for creating a new broadcast, where they will first be asked to select their personal page, or the community on whose behalf this broadcast will be conducted. To do this, click on the “Select” button.

Next, you need to enter the name of the new broadcast, and also set the following parameters:

• Enabling and disabling comments;
• Enabling or disabling display of the user's current geolocation;
• The third button allows you to create a private broadcast, which will be accessible only via a link;
• The last button allows you to send this broadcast to other people.

To start, you need to click on the “Create broadcast” button.

When it launches, in the upper left corner you can see how many people are watching the broadcast right now. Below there is a column in which you can leave a comment, and to the right there are buttons that allow you to switch to another camera and add special masks that can be selected from the general list below. To close the broadcast, you just need to click on the button with a cross.

By clicking on the button with three dots, the user will open a menu of additional functions. Here you can put a special filter on the image, switch to karaoke mode, turn off or turn on comments and image retouching. The following menu items allow you to share the broadcast with other people, as well as turn on the flashlight.

Bonus method

The method will appeal to users who want to watch the live broadcast anonymously, and those who are not registered on Instagram. To view it is enough:

1. Open Telegram on your computer and search for igspybot.
2. We launch the bot and enter the nickname of the person whose live broadcast we want to watch.
3. After sending, select the desired broadcast from the menu and download it to your computer.

It's easy to watch the broadcast from your computer. Look for interesting broadcasts, streams, open, watch, download and share methods with friends.