Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

This weird app lets you livestream what you’re doing on your phone

Streaming Unicorns
When it comes to livestreaming apps, there are plenty of them for iOS and Android users — from Meerkat and
Recommended Videos
Periscope, to Ustream — but what if you want to show the world what’s on your homescreen?

For that, there’s a new app called Unicorns, which lets users stream whatever they’re doing on their phone in the moment, whether it’s playing a game, texting, or swiping through Tinder.

To get started, you will need to download and install the Unicorns Mac app. Then, connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac and start using the Unicorns app. Once your device is connected, click on stream. You will be given a URL that you can choose to share publicly or privately. Viewers visiting the URL can then watch live and discuss what’s happening on your screen with text and fun emojis.

Although it may sound creepy or weird to broadcast what you’re doing on your phone, many people are finding practical uses for the app. Unicorns is currently being used for live game streaming, app previews, usability tests, feedback and bug reporting, and much more.

Neil Kinnish, Code + Product at Lookback, told Wired.com, “We’re seeing a lot of users gaming, of course, and we’re super excited about this, but also seeing many users coming on to showcase pre-release apps or upcoming features and chat with the user’s live … it has so many possibilities.”

Released out of beta Wednesday, the Unicorns app was created by Lookback, a startup co-founded by Nevyn Bengtsson. As a lead developer for Spotify, Bengtsson wanted to find a simple way to record and broadcast from an iPhone or iPad screen.

While there are several apps that enable this function, such as Screen Streaming Mirror for Android, Unicorns is simple to use and sports an elegant interface.

At this time, Unicorn is currently only available for Mac and iOS. Lookback has not mentioned whether or not it will be releasing an Android app in the future.

Karen Tumbokon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Karen is a technology, music and entertainment writer. Originally from New Jersey, Karen began her writing career in music…
Here’s everything you can do with the iPhone 16’s Camera Control button
Someone using the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16.

Apple has announced the iPhone 16 lineup, and it’s an exciting upgrade to one of Apple’s biggest product lines. The iPhone 16 gets the Action button that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro models last year, and Apple is also adding a new Camera Control across the entire iPhone 16 lineup, so it's not just exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro models — the regular iPhone 16 models have it too.

Originally rumored to be a “capture” button, the Camera Control can do much more than just take a photo. Here are all of the cool things you can do with the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 series.
What is the Camera Control?

Read more
You now have another reason to use your Apple Watch’s ECG feature
ECG on the Apple Watch Series 7.

Most of us wear an Apple Watch to track our steps and respond to texts on the go, ignoring the more advanced features — but sometimes, those features could save your life. Rachel Manolo says the Apple Watch helped keep both her and her unborn child safe.

Manolo was around 18 weeks pregnant when her symptoms first started: a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue. After several weeks of this, she decided to use the ECG function on her Apple Watch. It gave her an inconclusive result, but she reported a heartbeat of more than 150 beats per minute (bpm) for more than 40 minutes.

Read more
Does your Duolingo app icon look sick? You’re not alone
The Duolingo app icon, showing a sick-looking version of the Duolingo owl.

It's an absolute tragedy: The normally chipper Duolingo owl has fallen ill.

Just kidding. The app icon might have changed, but it doesn't mean any significant changes are coming to the app. It did stir up quite a bit of conversation on both X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit, though, as users around the world noticed that the Duo owl looked like he needed a heavy dose of DayQuil.

Read more