What is IRL streaming?

You want to take your stream out into the real world without hauling a backpack rig to do it. That is IRL streaming: live streaming from the real world, not a desk, and Super Simple IRL fits the whole setup into one phone. Here is what it means, what people stream, and how a phone can do the whole thing.

What IRL streaming means

IRL stands for “in real life”. IRL streaming is live streaming from the real world, rather than from a fixed desk or webcam setup. Instead of sitting at a computer, you are out with a phone or a portable camera, usually broadcasting over mobile data as you go.

That covers a lot of ground: walking streams, travel, live events, day-in-the-life content, and outdoor gaming. The common thread is that the world around you is the show, and you take your viewers along with you.

What people stream

There is no single format. Some of the most popular kinds are:

• Walks and city tours, wandering a neighbourhood or a whole city.
• Travel and events, from festivals and conventions to trips abroad.
• Food and markets, tasting your way through stalls and street food.
• House tours and cooking, because indoors counts too.
• Just chatting on the move, talking with chat while you go about your day.

What you used to need vs now

IRL streaming used to be expensive and heavy. The classic setup was a backpack rig: an encoder box (a device that compresses your video ready to send), a pile of batteries, and a bonding modem to hold several connections together. It worked, but it was a lot to carry and a lot to configure.

That is no longer the case. A modern phone can capture the video, compress it, bond your connections, and send the finished stream all by itself. Super Simple IRL does exactly this, so you get the same reliable, portable stream with no backpack.

How it works, briefly

The chain is simpler than it sounds. Your phone captures the video, compresses it so it fits down a mobile connection, and sends it out using a low-latency method (one built to keep the delay between you and your viewers small). That method is called SRT (short for Secure Reliable Transport) on a single connection, or SSTL (our own in-house transport, with bonding added) when it is combining several. The stream goes to SSIRL’s managed cloud, which receives it, adds your overlays and scenes, and sends it on to your platform. You never touch any of the plumbing yourself.

Where you stream to

Your stream ends up on the platforms viewers already use: Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and similar. You set your destination once at my.ssirl.com, tap Go Live in the app, and your audience joins you wherever you are. When you are ready to set that up, see the go-live guide.

Frequently asked questions