BitTorrent's live video app is now available on iOS

Half a year after its initial release back in May, plans to launch on iOS in June.

And while the service still offers a somewhat lackluster offering of 16 channels — the highlights of which include NASA, One World Sports, and France 24 — it's the technology behind BitTorrent Live that makes it significant. Like the infamous file sharing method, BitTorrent Live relies on peer-to-peer technology. But instead of allowing for faster downloads of files by using every user as a simultaneous uploader, BitTorrent Live casts viewers as a broadcaster, allowing for a more distributed method of streaming video that the company claims offers lower latency and more scalable streaming that traditional methods.

At least, it does on some platforms. It’s unclear whether or not the app is actually using peer-to-peer technology for streaming on iOS — BitTorrent had published a now-removed blog post claiming that BitTorrent Live used P2P, but other products from the company, like BitTorrent Now, have shied away from using the technology. The Verge contacted BitTorrent for clarification, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Of course, not even the most revolutionary streaming technology will help if there's nothing good to actually watch. Here's hoping the increased viewership that the iOS audience can offer to BitTorrent Live can help the service attach some bigger names in content.

The BitTorrent Live iOS application is available now on the App Store.