connected

Go live. Stay live.

IRL streaming that survives dead zones. Your phone streams to your own server, and your server keeps the broadcast alive. Lose signal and viewers see your Be-right-back screen, not an ended stream. It’s over only when you end it.

Set up your server Android APK

Free, open source, one command. The iPhone app is still in testing and not open yet. Your crew needs no app at all: chat, alerts, program view, and TTS run in any browser on your own domain.

Example The app

In a dead zone

Live · 1:23:45connected

Reconnecting

You’re still live. Viewers are seeing your Be-right-back screen.

Last good feed 4 521 kbps · 38 ms · 0% loss

End stream

Only End Stream ends it. The card holds through restarts and hour-long outages.

What it does

The whole chain, self-hosted, from your phone to Twitch.

Never cuts out

Your server owns the broadcast; your phone just feeds it. Dead zone, phone restart, hour-long outage: viewers see your Be-right-back screen until you’re back. Only End Stream ends it.

Every connection at once

WiFi, cellular, and your crew’s phones bond into one uplink. One path chokes, the others carry the stream. Built for weak rural signal, not studio fiber.

Your own studio

Alerts burned into the video, chat and channel-point TTS with real controls, bits thresholds, donations through your own Stripe. Self-hosted, nobody in the middle.

Get it

A server you own, and a phone that feeds it.

Set up your server Free · open source · one command · github.com/critzydev/connected-server

Download for Android connected-0.1.12.apk · sideload · SHA-256 in the questions below

iPhone app: still in testing, not open yet.

Point a domain at a small VPS (about $5 a month) and run the one setup command from GitHub. It installs the relay, the never-cut-out engine, your studio, and HTTPS.
Install the app on your phone, point it at your relay, and log in.
Go live. Your crew opens chat, alerts, program view, and TTS in a browser on your domain, with the permissions you choose.

Questions

The ones people actually ask.

What actually happens when I lose signal?

Your server notices within seconds and swaps in your Be-right-back screen — a custom image, looping video, or text card. The Twitch broadcast never disconnects. When your phone finds signal again, the stream resumes seamlessly; short blips are invisible entirely. With stream protection on, the card holds through phone restarts and hour-long dead zones — the broadcast ends only when you press End Stream.

Do I need my own server?

Yes — that’s the whole point: your stream never depends on someone else’s infrastructure. A ~$5/month VPS and a domain you own is all it takes. One command sets up everything: the relay, the never-cut-out engine, your studio, HTTPS. Instructions at github.com/critzydev/connected-server.

What do I stream from?

The Android app or the iPhone app (still in testing, not open yet) — both with hardware HEVC, the Rock-solid delay window, bonded connections, and alerts burned into the broadcast. Android adds a dual-camera torch (flash the wide lens while the ultrawide films) and a battery-saver dim. Your crew never needs an app: chat, alerts, program monitor, and TTS run in any browser on your own domain.

How do I install the Android APK?

Download it from this page and open it — Android will ask you to allow installs from your browser, which is normal for apps outside the Play Store. Point it at your relay, log in, go live. For the technically inclined: v0.1.12, SHA-256 1c62a723a824e4687937a63f6437339b3d1d60093aee5568adc4ba06f28b8063.

How is this different from IRL Pro, Streamlabs, or a BELABOX?

Those either rent you infrastructure or stop at getting video to a server. Connected is the whole chain, self-hosted: bonded ingest, a relay that treats your broadcast as a checkpoint (drops show YOUR card, never an offline screen), alerts and TTS with real controls, and donations through your own Stripe account. Open source, no subscription, no middleman.

What does it cost?

The software is free and open source. You pay for your own VPS (~$5/month) and domain (~$10/year) — that’s it. Donations go straight to your Stripe; bits and subs stay between you and Twitch.