If Snapchat & Periscope Had A Baby, It Would Be This App

When you live-stream video on an app like Periscope, normally, all you can do is show what your camera sees. But with the latest update from the AOl-owned app Kanvas, you can do a whole lot more — like add animated, beating heart stickers that you can paste over your face. (If you are not trying to produce a video of yourself in real time with an animated, beating heart imposed over your face, you can show yourself out.) Kanvas is the first app of its kind to allow users to broadcast and edit live video simultaneously. In a conversation over the phone, developer Vic Singh explains that Kanvas 5.0 will include four new editing features: a selection of Photo Booth-style filters, drawing tools, full-video themes like a rainstorm, and animated stickers (like the aforementioned beating heart). "You may be able to do a subset of these things on prepackaged content apps," he tells us, "but you can’t do any of it live." There's an implicit pressure that comes along with most live-streaming apps: "If it’s just live video-streaming on its own, the bar to actually be cool [online] is very high," Singh explains. "You actually have to be an entertaining person." Kanvas, he adds, is far more accessible and less intimidating to users who might otherwise shy away from the format: "Our goal is to...give people a window into people’s lives — but in a fun, simple way that doesn’t feel like it’s daunting." And not only will users be able to edit their own videos, but viewers can see it all happen when someone else is editing a live video, too. The idea of watching someone try (and fail) multiple times to draw a proper five-point star over their live-stream already sounds pretty amusing to us. The update is available for download today — and you'll want to look for Kanvas' coverage of Heidi Klum's renowned Halloween party this Saturday. Happy streaming!