Phase 2 Alpha
Welcome to the start of Phase 2, first up we should set some expectations! Things will not happen overnight, this will take time as there are many parties which need to coordinate time on a volunteer basis to make all of this happen. Therefore we will not be offering up any deadlines or schedules when it comes to Phase 2, but we do promise to keep you updated on progress each week as well as holding streams and other open approaches such as coding via streams, so you can keep up to date on how things are progressing.
These features are large scale with a variety of intricacies and as we learn more about each feature things may change, or we do hold the right to scrap an idea entirely. It is highly unlikely things will change but as we learn more about these features and how they will work there may be some changes.
Phase 2 is about bringing growth and viewership to the platform, we want to get people engaged in streams and coming back for more the next day. By the end of phase 2 we hope to have more tools to help you and us to succeed and continue to grow far into the future.
So without any further ado, here is the phase 2 roadmap:
Glimesh Mobile App
The Glimesh mobile app will be available for most versions of Android and IOS with a focus on viewing and chatting with streams on the go. This is also a way for more audiences to discover Glimesh through things such as the app store, tiktok ads etc, but it is also a way for existing audiences to discover new streams and never miss your favourite streamers again with notifications (should you choose to turn them on) for all your streamers direct to your phone. To set expectations here Phase 2 Glimesh mobile app will NOT allow you to stream from the app, you will still need to use a PC in order to go live. This app will be basic to begin with allowing you to follow, chat and view but things such as subscriptions from phone will not be available to begin with.
The development for this has already begun with the code, as with all our code, being entirely open source and available to see on our github. At this time the code will not get you very far as it is currently unusable, but for those interested in seeing the progression of the app you are more than welcome to head on over and check it out!
Video Improvements For Poor Networks
At this stage we don’t have any specific details to offer as we want to make sure we have the right solutions. One of the main challenges here, especially with development of a mobile app is that FTL uses a lot of data and it needs whatever the streamer is sending out in order to watch which is difficult on 3G and 4G, and even for some phones just to process. We want to make sure audiences with poorer networks can watch, this doesn’t mean RTMP or even transcoding at this time, it means we want to figure out what the right solution will be.
The solution may come in the form of a video within a HLS container, or it could be transcoding which preserves the FTL so it remains lower latency but is of a lower quality video, we just don’t know yet.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in working on please reach out to Hayden#3566 or Dan#3672 via discord as they are currently working on building the video infrastructure from scratch.
Custom Channel Emotes
Custom channel emotes are again still in the early stages of information as we want to make sure we are putting the control in the streamers hands. On other platforms you have to subscribe to a streamer to use emotes but we want to approach this in a more Glimesh way with allowing streamers to configure it so all viewers, whether subscribed or not, can use your emotes in your channel, with only those who are subscribed able to use it across the platform. We want to have an open discussion in more detail about how this will look, but we want to make sure the approach is uniquely Glimesh.
Gifted Subscriptions
For us, we see gifted subscriptions are important for three reasons. First of all, we want to support streamers and communities which rely on gifted subs and have come over from other platforms so they can continue their success here. Secondly we want community members who do want to financially support their favourite streamers and are in a position to do so to have that option to give gift subscriptions and share the love not only with the streamer, but with that community as well. Finally by adding gifted subscriptions we are able to future proof the infrastructure for potential future features such as a free channel subscription with a gold tier platform subscription and being able to give random people on the platform subscriptions.
True to the Glimesh spirit we are also investigating the option for viewers to opt in or opt out of being able to receive gifted subscriptions.
Raiding
The final feature we have to announce as part of our phase 2 roadmap is raiding. After a stream ends viewers either leave your stream entirely and are done with Glimesh for the day, or we can help those people find more content to watch. Raiding is a way for us, and you, to help encourage people to stick around and check out other content on Glimesh. The person you get raided to could be your new favourite streamer and you just haven’t found them yet who knows!
Again we need to investigate just what raiding will look like, and also decide what we want to call it.
Much like with subscriptions we also want to consider the idea of having an opt in or opt out option, so those streamers who may not want to receive raids don’t have too.
So there you have it, our phase 2 alpha roadmap. We ask you to be patient as we continue to work on this and look forward to you helping us test out the early stages of each of these features, with your feedback as we progress we hope these additions can help make Glimesh stronger than ever.