Hello, everyone! This is Screena. Today, I'll share the fifth part of the development diary for the "Twitch Watch Party" feature created by Screena. I'll explain why and how Screena developed the Twitch Watch Party feature, along with the challenges faced along the way. If you're curious about the previous stories, check them out! This diary is about internal testing.
Timer Testing
After creating the timer, we decided to conduct internal testing before releasing it. We needed to check if the sync was accurate and if there were any issues with the OTT platforms. However, for that to happen... someone had to become a streamer.
Fortunately, I had some previous experience with GV (Group Viewing), and I had tinkered with OBS a little bit. Among Betty, June, and Ken, Ken volunteered to be the first one to start streaming.
While the visual presentation wasn't important to us, we didn't want to display a black screen... so we featured a big picture of the cute company character "Oknim." (Oknim is a corn that wants to become popcorn.)
But... there's a problem. I was familiar with OBS, but Twitch was completely new to me. When I entered the stream, the chat wasn't working... The streamer himself has never turned it on ☹ After googling hard, I solved the issue and started the chat. Betty and June also took turns streaming.
The results were successful! After some polishing, we launched the timer.
Twitch Watch Party Feature Testing
After launching the timer, we worked hard on planning and developing the Twitch Watch Party feature, and it was finally completed. So, of course, we had to test it again!
Since each person has a different streaming environment, this time Betty and June took turns streaming. June played the first episode of ‘Oshi no Ko’. There was a 2-second delay between the actual viewing and the stream!
Since each person has a different streaming environment, this time Betty and June took turns streaming. June played the first episode of ‘Oshi no Ko’. There was a 2-second delay between the actual viewing and the stream!
The screenshot you see now is the view from the "streamer." That's why there's a Twitch connection button in the top-right widget (1).
Because we connected the Twitch account, whenever June moved the playback position, the bot distributed the entry link in the chat window (3).
When viewers join the party room, the playback position automatically syncs. That's why the streamer doesn't need to display the timer on the stream screen (2).
However, if the timer is displayed, viewers don't need to request the exact moment they're watching from the streamer. They can directly refer to the timer to align their position. The widget you see now is what the "viewer" sees.
Depending on the streaming environment, there's a -5 second delay applied.
When watching a movie, if the widget is turned off, it becomes transparent like that.
Betty played Netflix. Unlike June, there was no streaming delay at all!
Even the development team who joined the party room for testing, found it’s fascinating that they don't need to align precisely as there’s no delay in streaming.
All internal testing has been completed!
The Twitch Watch Party will be released in the near future after some improvement.
You can download the timer for free here!