14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook has been working on adding new features to its application on all platforms and it has recently announced that Live Audio is now available on Facebook for Android and iOS, but it has different features for each of the two platforms.
The need for Live Audio is quite obvious for Facebook, considering that some publishers have found ways to use Live Video only for broadcasting audio. Some have made use of Facebook Live API, while others added a still image when broadcasting only their voices.
The new Live Audio feature makes it easy to skip video and only broadcast audio to your fans and people who check in to listen. The feature is also useful for broadcasting live from areas with poor network connectivity, considering that Live Video takes up more bandwidth than audio.
Users can discover live audio content from their Facebook News Feed, post questions to broadcasts and leave reactions in real time. As expected, they can share broadcasts with their friends, so more people would tune in.
Android users can listen to Live Audio while the phone is locked
Facebook provided additional options for Live Audio broadcasts, Android users can listen to Live Audio broadcasts while doing something else. They can leave the Facebook app or lock their phones, and the audio would continue to stream.
iOS users can continue to listen while they can browse other parts of Facebook. The company will make the new format more broadly available to publishers and people starting early next year.
Facebook has also started to test Live Audio with several partners, including BBC World Service, LBC, Harper Collins, and some authors like Adam Grant and Brit Bennett.
Recently, Facebook rolled out Live 360 video, which lets them explore and experience new environments. The feature will be made available to Pages via the Live API in the coming months and broadly for all Pages and Profiles in 2017.
