Over the past several months we’ve been seeing Google moving various services away from Google+. The app no longer comes pre-loaded on Android devices, you no longer need a Google+ account for YouTube or Google Play, and now the company is cutting another chunk out of the social network, Hangouts on Air.
Starting on September 12th Hangouts on Air will move from Google+ to YouTube Live. With this move, there won’t be too many changes to the platform as a whole. Users will still have the same privacy levels on their broadcasts including public, private, and unlisted. Recorded events will still upload to the associated YouTube channel as well, but one big loss will be apps.
Currently, Hangouts on Air users can use features such as Showcase, Applause, and Q&A to receive questions and feedback from viewers in real-time as well as display specific content to them. Following the switch to YouTube Live, these features won’t be available, at least not at launch.
Starting today scheduled events on Hangouts on Air can’t be scheduled past September 12th, so those will need to be created with the YouTube Creator Studio. If you’ve already created an event which will take place after that date, you’ll need to recreate it on YouTube Live as well.
To create an event on YouTube Live, here’s what you need to do:
- Go to Live Streaming Events in Creator Studio.
- Click New live event.
- Select Quick (using Google Hangouts On Air).
- Give your live stream a title.
- Click Go live now or enter in details to schedule your event for later.
- Use Hangouts to broadcast live.
This change is a very logical one for Google, but it doesn’t put much faith in the future of Google+ as a social network.
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