Qik Live review

The Qik iPhone app is one of the best apps out there, and probably the only one of its kind, that turns any iPhone (1st, 3G,3GS) into a live video streaming camera. Just sign up for a Qik account, download the free Qik iPhone app and it will stream live video from your iPhone 3GS to the Qik website. The newly updated app now works over 3G and WiFi, so you can now stream your life anywhere, anytime. Videos include audio and to make things even more exciting Qik has a built in chat feature that lets you and your audience talk on top of the video files from the web. While your iPhone is broadcasting it will not let you enter chat messages, probably to avoid moving the iPhone too much. Once you stop the recording, you’ll see all the chat messages on the screen, and have an opportunity to chat with the online crowd from the app.

Tapping on the screen brings up a nice iPhone style menu that offers the following options. Mute audio, turn chat off, set to private, edit video details, share video and send by email. You can type in a short title and description for your video. Your videos are automatically archived on qik.com and can be shared from there using email and SMS, added to any website, automatically posted to blogs via platforms like Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, or posted to social sites like MySpace and Digg. If you choose you can go online and delete your videos, otherwise they are made public. Videos are recorded at 320×240. You make videos and streams private with a single tap, and this way only you can view them once you log on to the qik.com website. Keep in mind that videos and streams are public by default. Finally tapping the small video button on the bottom right, takes you to the gallery of all your video files on qik.com and lets you play them back.

The video quality is actually pretty good too. The Qik app settings allow you to change your streaming mode between Live and Offline. To view your live streams just tap the red record button and you’re online within a few seconds at quick.com/YOUR_USERNAME with an apparent 5 second delay. Other settings let you share your location along with the videos, optimize for minimum delay vs. Maximum quality, show stream info, and view in list or grid mode.

Overall the new Qik app is nothing short of awesome. It just plain works out of the box, without any weird issues like some other apps that have tried the live streaming thing and come up short. If you have an iPhone you really should download this app and give it a shot. You won’t be disappointing.

AppSafari review of Qik Live was written by Joe Seifi on January 23rd, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Chat, Featured, Files, Utilities, Video. Page viewed 9485 times, 1 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.