The problem
Livestreaming is everywhere, but most platforms force creators and brands into someone else’s ecosystem. HotMic had a different idea: a white-label SDK that lets companies embed creator-led livestream experiences directly inside their own apps, on their own brand, with their own audience data.
The product was already proving itself. Manchester City FC, Bleacher Report, and WBD Sports were using it to run watch parties and live social events. Average session length was 50 to 60 minutes, well above industry norms for live content. What HotMic needed was a consumer app that demonstrated the full capability of the platform, plus the brand and marketing presence to go along with it.
The mobile app
HQ designed and iterated on the HotMic mobile app across multiple rounds. The app is the platform’s flagship demo: watch parties, live shopping, e-sports coverage, and radio, all in one place. Users can comment in real time, respond to polls, ask questions during streams, and discover new creators without leaving the experience.
The app is built in Swift and backed by an admin dashboard that gives content teams full control over what’s live, what’s scheduled, and how streams are managed. The SDK powering it has driven over 100,000 videos globally across HotMic’s client deployments.
Brand and website
We designed HotMic’s visual identity from the ground up, logo, color system, typography, and brand guidelines. The brand needed to feel energetic and modern without competing with the video content it surrounds. The bold orange system hits that mark.
The marketing site was built on Webflow with a CMS, so the HotMic team can publish new case studies, client logos, and feature updates without a developer.
Keeping everyone on the same second
A watch party only works if everybody is watching the same moment, so a good share of the app is sync machinery. There is a sync adjustment a viewer can nudge, a timeout for when a sync fails, automatic re-syncing when a player stalls, and a panel that tells you when you are back in step with the room. Live state moves between clients over PubNub.
The player rotates sideways to fill the screen, and text respects whatever size somebody has set in their phone’s accessibility settings.
Seven years on
The app is still in the App Store and still being updated. Version 5.0.2 shipped in August 2026, seven years after the first release in September 2019. It holds a 4.6 average from 162 ratings.
