GoPro's New Live-Streaming Service Arrives With Major Webcam Update

Action camera company GoPro has introduced its own live-streaming video service, enabling its subscription customers to live-stream high-quality feeds from their action cameras to anyone interested in watching. The new service was announced alongside a big firmware update that brings webcam functionality to select GoPro camera models on iOS, as well as a new video stabilization feature.

In mid-July, GoPro followed multiple other camera companies to introduce webcam support in some of its own products, but there was a big limitation — it only worked with macOS at the time, leaving Windows users to look for unofficial workarounds. That changes with the latest firmware update for the HERO8 Black action camera.

With the new software, HERO8 Black owners can use the camera as a high-quality webcam on Windows in addition to macOS, the latter of which has exited beta. Whereas the macOS webcam support is now official for the platform, the Windows support is currently in beta and accessible through the GoPro Webcam desktop tool.

In addition to this new feature, the GoPro HERO8 Black firmware update also brings HyperSmooth 2.0 High and Boost video stabilization. This update arrives alongside the launch of GoPro's own live-streaming platform, enabling GoPro Plus subscribers who own a HERO8 Black, MAX, or HERO7 Black camera model to share their footage in original quality with viewers.

According to a new support document on the feature, live-streaming is possible using one of those camera models and the iOS or Android app. Users can create a private link to their live-stream to share with others, though the option remains to also live-stream video content on Facebook, as well. The GoPro Plus subscription plan is priced at $4.99/month.