IRL Pro

Introduction

The IRL Pro App is an Android-only option which offers SRTLA bonding over multiple connections, making it a very popular option for IRL Streaming.

I used to exclusively use Prism Live Studio, but now exclusively use IRL Pro specifically for the connection bonding.

Pros: This app supports SRT/SRTLA, which is better than RTMP/RTMPS. This app offers connection bonding, which is great for IRL Streaming. Typically, users will use this to connect to public wifi connections when they're going to be at a certain place for an extended period of time, while they are live, without it interrupting the stream. I recommend checking the Data Providers page if you're interested in carrying a second device for constant connection bonding everywhere you go.

Cons: This app is very demanding to run, which on a lot of devices leads to overheating and/or battery drain which renders it pretty much worthless if you're trying to stream more than an hour. If you're set on using IRL Pro, but you're experiencing these problems, check out my recommendation in Recommended Android Phone.

The Condensed (To The Point) Guide

Download the app. Open it.

Click the gear in the top left.

Go to 'Steamer' if you're using Kick or Twitch and add your username.

Go to 'Connections' and add your stream url and key.

Go to 'Video' and set your resolution and FPS settings.

Go to 'Overlays,' click 'Web Overlays,' click 'New web overlay,' add your preferred Alertbox URL (See Alerts / Overlays / Text-to-Speech). If you aren't using Kick or Twitch, or you want to add a chat overlay for Kick or Twitch that is embedded on the stream, repeat the 'New web overlay' option and add your Chat Overlay URL as well, but set it to a different location on the screen than your Alertbox.

Go back to the main screen.

Click the White Play Button at the bottom of the screen.

You're live.

The Full Guide

Download the app from the Google Play Store, and launch it. On your first load, you should see the camera and a series of buttons around the screen. Start by pressing the Gear icon in the top left of the screen. This will load the Settings menu. From here, start working your way down the list.

Streamer options: Here you can set a Kick or Twitch username, which will display the chat on the screen, which you can scroll, but you can't interact with it (ban/timeout/etc). IRL Pro also supports adding both Kick and Twitch if you plan to multistream to both. Scroll the rest of this menu to see if anything applies to you, and then move on.

Bonding and NoDrop Settings: Here you will read a little about the bonding services provided by this app. However, the only options you can change are enabling them, and setting the 'weight' of each connection. Once you've looked over this, go back.

Connections: Here you will choose 'New connection' and setup your connection. Assuming you're brand new, you probably don't have a Streaming Server setup, so you will probably either use the Quick Site Setup to add Kick, Twitch, or a custom target URL. If you do have a Streaming Server setup, this is where you'd put your SRT/SRTLA URL. If you want to learn more about Streaming Servers, or don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Streaming Servers section, because the truth is, all the medium and larger IRL streamers are using Streaming Servers for the various benefits they offer.

Video: Here you can select the camera you want to see when you first open the app. Check the 'Flip between physical sub-cameras' option as there may be hidden options by default that you want to check out. Set your resolution and FPS. Look through the other options, note that things like electronic and optical image stabilization do contribute to battery drain and overheating problems, so if you are experiencing those problems, try disabling these to see if that helps. Directly above that, choosing your Bitrate and Format are helpful if you know what you're doing. HEVC uses less bitrate, but is more demanding on the encoder. For more information on additional facts about the comparison of HEVC and H.264, you'll have to research it, but what really matters in this situation is bitrate vs encoder demand, what's more important for you, and what actually works for you.

Audio: I personally don't touch anything here, but feel free to check it out.

Recording: I personally don't touch anything here, but this is where you can choose to also record your stream to your phone in realtime, however it is resource demanding, and I wouldn't recommend it. If recording your VOD to your phone in realtime is important to you, and you aren't bonding connections, I recommend just using Prism Live Studio instead.

Display: I don't mess with this, but it's just three options you can enable or disable.

Overlays: Here you can add Text/Picture overlays, if you want to put a watermark or something on the stream. This is also where you click 'Web Overlays,' then 'New web overlay,' then add your Alertbox URL. Repeat the process to add other overlays, like Chat, View Count, etc. You can choose to show these on the stream, or just on your phone where only you can see them if you want.

Advanced options: You can browse these, but I don't mess with any of them.

Once you've done all this, you can go back to the main screen, and then press the White Play Button centered in the bottom of the screen to go live!

Troubleshooting

The main issues people experience with IRL Pro are overheating and battery drain (even when charging). I recommend checking out the official IRL Pro Discord where you can ask about your specific device and settings for guidence.

If you can't figure it out, or if it just doesn't work well on your phone, you could buy the phone I recommend on the Recommended Android Phone page, or simply just use Prism Live Studio instead. It's a great app, with great features, but it lacks connection bonding.