Apple earlier this week released iOS 11 beta 3, which brings over a variety of fixes and improvements as well as some new features. Included in the list of iOS 11 changes is a trick that Apple didn’t talk about on stage at WWDC 2017, or in any iOS 11-related materials.
For the first time in iOS 11, Apple supports Screen Recording, a feature some users have been seeking for years. Part of the revamped Control Center, screen recording was available to beta users from the first release.
But iOS 11 beta 3 (and iOS 11 public beta 2) brings a new “Start Broadcast” option to Screen Recording. At this time, the new option does nothing — well, it does save your broadcast locally, but it’s not tied to any sharing service, and it’s not live. You can’t live stream your videos in this beta, but it’s clear that Apple wants to offer the ability to do so.
It’s unclear why Apple thinks it should support broadcasting from Control Center, but the feature does sound nifty. Anyone looking to deliver iOS tutorials, or simply broadcast their gaming sessions will be able to do so directly from an iPhone or iPad. Maybe a similar macOS feature is also in the works for the future.
That doesn’t mean Apple is building a Twitch competitor. Just that Apple sees some potential in having iOS users broadcast their interaction with an iPhone or iPad to other people. When I first talked about Screen Recording, I said it could turn out to be a great tool for doing customer support with your parents. Add live streaming capabilities to that, and the feature is even better.
