Facebook may be testing a feature that would allow users to stream Facebook videos to their TVs via AirPlay or Chromecast. According to a report by Marketing Land, the company is testing a feature that would allow users to stream videos (including live videos) to any television set connected to an Apple TV or the Google Chromecast dongle. A Facebook spokesperson told the website, “We’re currently testing updates to the Facebook app that provide better support for streaming videos from the app to your TV via AirPlay and Chromecast.”
The report notes that currently, the support seems to be pretty basic. Users can minimise the app as a video is being streamed to scroll through their news feed. However, users can only set one video at a time on Apple TV, while on Chromecast, users can add multiple videos to a queue. When viewing a live broadcast, the video will be played on the TV, while the comments will be shown on the phone.
While the new feature doesn’t seem to offer anything that isn’t already being offered by the likes of YouTube, Netflix or Hulu, its news feed algorithm might help it get an edge over the competition. The algorithm is current used by Facebook to push its videos to the top of the user’s news feed so that more people watch them. This could help Facebook attract more quality programming such as longer and higher-quality videos as well as more live broadcasts.