We are excited to announce that you can now share videos directly with your viewers during your share sessions. Previously, if you wanted to share a video with your viewers, you would do it through our screen sharing feature. The drawback of doing this, however, was that the quality wasn’t as good as watching the video directly because sharing the video via screen sharing resulted in a video with a lower quality and frame rate. In addition, if the video that you were sharing had audio, it was often difficult to ensure that the audio was also being shared correctly with your viewers.

Our new video sharing feature addresses these issues by sharing the video directly with your viewers so they can view it in their browser window, making it as easy for them as watching a video on YouTube. The video is shared in the original high quality and without any lag. The audio is also played in the original high quality.

To use the video sharing feature, simply click on the Video button that is visible once you have started your share session. When you click the button, you will be asked to enter the URL of the video that you would like to share. To share a video, paste in the URL of the video and click the Share video button. If you are planning to share the same video during each of your share session, you can save time by setting a default video URL in your Settings & Preferences. We currently support sharing videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia. Please let us know if there’s another video hosting platform you would like us to support.

The share video feature is only available on paid plans. If you would like to try out the feature, please contact us at support@screenleap.com to get set up with a free trial.

We are excited to announce that you can now add support for live interaction (screen sharing, video conferencing, audio conferencing, chat, and more) to your website using our new integration feature by simply adding a snippet of code to your website:

No additional coding is required!

You and your users will be able to take advantage of all of the benefits of Screenleap’s live-collaboration platform directly from your website without needing to use another app or online service—all you and your users need is a web browser. You can use our integration feature to streamline your sales process with your prospects, provide your customers with more effective support, collaborate more easily with external users, host your online classes directly from your website, and more.

Configuration

Configuring your Screenleap integration is easy: after adding the Screenleap integration code to your website, you will be able to configure your integration from the integration settings page. The integration settings page also allows you to customize the integration to fit your specific needs—without the need for any programming.

Example Integration

You can use our integration feature to enable all sorts of interactions on your website with your users and colleagues. One common interaction is to allow your customer support agents to be able to see your customers’ screens so they can provide them with faster and more effective support. An example integration with your support page could look like the following for your support agents:

Your support agents will be able to start a support session with your customers by asking them to go to your support page on your website. Your support agents can then go to the support page, start a support session, and select the customer whose screen they want to view. If the selected customer grants permission to share his/her screen, your support agent will be able to see his/her screen immediately from your website:

Best of all, your customers will not need to manually click on any share links or enter any share codes to join the support session: they will be automatically connected when the support session starts.

Please take a look at our integration use cases page to see more common uses cases for our integration feature, the benefits of using our integration feature for those use cases, and suggested configuration settings and demos for those use cases that you can try out.

Let Us Know What You Think

This release is the culmination of our 10-year journey to fulfill our original vision for Screenleap: to make it possible for you to easily add support for live-collaboration to your website so that you can interact in real-time with your users remotely just as easily as if they were sitting right next to you.

We would love for to hear your feedback regarding the new integration feature, how you are using it to improve your interactions with your users and colleagues, and anything we can add to make it work better for you. Please get in touch with us at support@screenleap.com.

We are excited to announce that you can now share a full-screen video of yourself to your viewers using your webcam to introduce yourself and connect with your viewers during your meetings.

To enable full-screen video conferencing, click the Video button after starting your meeting.

Your viewers will see a full-screen view of what your webcam is sharing. Full-screen video conferencing differs from the previously-available embedded video feature in that your viewers will see a full-screen video of your webcam, whereas the embedded video feature shows your webcam embedded in your shared screen. To switch back to sharing your screen, click the Screen button.

If you do not want to allow video conferencing for your meetings, you can disable it from your user preferences.

Coming Soon

We hope you find the full-screen video conferencing features useful for your meetings. Please stay tuned for an announcement on how you can easily start branded meetings directly from your website without going to the Screenleap website! Please contact us at support@screenleap.com if you would like early access to this feature.

We are excited to share that the installation-free sharing option that has been available on the Screenleap site is now available in our API. You will now be able to offer your users the ability to start share sessions from your website and allow them to interact with other users through screen sharing, 2-way audio conferencing, and video conferencing—all without needing anyone to install any software. All they need is a modern web browser.

Installation-Free Sharing

With this release, you will now be able to offer installation-free sharing and viewing to all your users who are using a modern desktop browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari). Viewers will be able to continue to take advantage of the convenience of installation-free viewing while presenters will now also benefit from the convenience and benefits of installation-free sharing. This includes never needing to worry about needing to install a native app in order to join a share session or having to worry about a mandatory app update at an inopportune time right before an important meeting.

Default Presenter UI

To make it even easier for you to integrate with installation-free sharing, we have added a default presenter UI that you can use to get started with. The default presenter UI will show toggles for all enabled options as well as buttons for change the screen source and for stopping the share session.

If you want to create a completely custom UI for your integration, you can disable the default presenter UI by passing useDefaultPresenterUI=false in your request to create a new share session.

Audio Conferencing and Video Conferencing

Our long-term goal at Screenleap has always been to make it ridiculously easy for you to enable live-collaboration on your website or web app. As a step towards achieving that goal, we are excited to also announce that you can now enable 2-way audio conferencing and video conferencing when using our new installation-free sharing option. This will allow you to give your presenters the ability to chat with their viewers through their computer’s microphone and speakers and also share their screen and webcam video with them. 2-way audio conferencing is currently in beta and video conferencing is currently in an experimental state, so they are not always guaranteed to work. Please alert us of any issues that you discovered so we can investigate them.

To enable 2-way audio conferencing, add enableComputerAudio=true to your create share session request. To enable video conferencing, add enableVideoConferencing=true to your create screen share request.

New API Defaults

We have updated some of the defaults that you can specify in your requests to create an API share session and in your viewer URL. Please note the following changes to the defaults:

• includeDefaultPresenterUI – We are now supporting a default presenter UI for installation-free API share sessions. It will be enabled by default. If you would like to disable it so you can create your own custom presenter UI using our lower-level API calls, you will need to include includeDefaultPresenterUI=false in your create share session request.
• showResize – This viewer URL parameter will now default to true. If you do not want the resize controls to be visible, please include showResize=false in the viewer URL.
• showStop – This viewer URL parameter will now default to true. If you do not want the stop button to be shown to viewers, please include showResize=false in the viewer URL.

Even Easier Integration Coming Soon

Currently, we do not recommend using a JavaScript-only integration as it exposes your API credentials to everyone, which allows nefarious users to create share sessions using your account. To make it even easier to integrate with your website in the future, we are working to support a JavaScript-only integration that does not expose your API credentials so you don’t need to make a server-side call to create the share session. Please stay tuned for more information about this simpler integration option.

We Would Love Your Feedback

Please let us know what you think about our new installation-free sharing option and if they are any changes we can make to make it even more useful to you!

We are excited to share with you the next evolution of the Screenleap service. Our goal has always been to support installation-free sharing and viewing on all devices. Our latest release moves us closer to that vision and all the convenience and benefits that it brings to you.

With the latest release, you will now be able to take advantage of the benefits of installation-free sharing on all the major desktop browsers while still being able to use features that were exclusive to our Screenleap for Mac and Screenleap for Windows apps—namely the ability to share a portion of your screen using rectangle mode and the ability to share controls of your screen with your viewers.

Our installation-free sharing with add-on support has many advantages over the native apps:

1. You can start sharing from any desktop computer without having to install any app. All you need is a web browser.
2. We are able to provide your viewers with a sharper and clearer screen than possible with the native apps.
3. Installation-free sharing uses less CPU than the native apps so your computer will run cooler, use less power (great for laptops), and allows you to use more apps simultaneously when sharing your screen.
4. Installation-free sharing is more reliable than our native apps. Your meetings are less likely to end unexpectedly as a result.
5. You do not need to worry about keeping your app up-to-date. As a result, your meetings are less likely to be delayed by an app update.

Installation-free sharing is now available on all desktop computers with a modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari). The add-on, which provides support for rectangle mode and control sharing, is currently available for Mac and Windows computers.

We hope you enjoy the added convenience and benefits provided by installation-free sharing with add-on support—especially when you are collaborating with external users, such as your prospects and business partners. Stay tuned for upcoming enhancements that will allow you to collaborate with your users without leaving your website.

We are excited to announce the early-access release of our new computer audio conferencing feature. Computer audio conferencing allows you to speak with the people in your meetings using your computer’s microphone and speakers. You no longer need to call a separate dial-in number in order to speak to each other, which makes it even easier and faster to start your meetings.

Enabling Computer Audio Conferencing

Audio conferencing is available to users on our paid subscription plans. If you are a paid subscriber, you can enable computer audio conferencing by going to your Settings & Preferences from the Account menu. Select Yes, use computer audio conferencing for the Audio Preferences setting and then save your change.

Using Computer Audio Conferencing

When you start a meeting with computer audio conferencing enabled, you will be able to speak to other people in your meeting using your computer’s microphone and speakers. Everyone will need to be on a computer with a microphone and speakers and using a modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari) in order to user computer audio conferencing. Computer audio conferencing also works for mobile viewers using any browser on Android and the Safari browser on iOS devices.

The microphone and speakers default to the defaults for your computer. You can change the microphone and speakers used by moving your mouse over the Room panel.

You can mute your microphone during your meeting by clicking on the microphone icon.

Limitations

Computer audio conferencing is currently only available when you use our our installation-free screen sharing option. Support for computer audio conferencing will soon be available in the Screenleap for Mac and Screenleap for Windows apps.

Computer audio conferencing is also limited to a maximum of ten participants during the beta period.

Share Your Feedback

We would love to hear what you think of the new computer conferencing feature and if you have any suggestions for improvements. We take your feedback very seriously!

Happy Leap Day everyone! In celebration of Leap Day, we are excited to announce that Screenleap will be taking the next leap forward with features that will make it even easier for you to share your screen and collaborate with anyone, anywhere. We want to give you a preview of some of the changes that you will be seeing to the service this coming week.

Installation-Free Screen Sharing

With the upcoming release, Screenleap will be returning to our roots with the return of installation-free screen sharing. When Screenleap was originally founded, we offered installation-free sharing through our Java-based presenter app. Unfortunately, as Macs and Windows moved away from Java due to security issues, we had to abandon the Java-based app in favor of our native apps, which required installation before you could share your screen.

We are excited that we will again be able to offer installation-free screen sharing for desktop users using Chrome and the latest Edge browsers (Firefox coming soon). Coupled with our installation-free viewing feature that we offer on all platforms, sharing your screen with the people you collaborate with has never been easier or faster.

Simpler and More Streamlined User Interface

We have been working hard to simplify the Screenleap service to make it even easier for you to use. We have made two changes that should make sharing your screen even easier:

1. We removed the need for your to decide whether you should a private screen share or a broadcast. If you want to share your screen now, you can now simply click the Meet now button. For paid users, you can decide if you want to lock your meetings by default. If your meetings are unlocked, your viewers can join your meeting to view your screen by going to your personal link (https://screenleap.com/[handle].  If your meeting is locked, your viewers can join your meeting by going to the 9-digit screen share code for your meeting (i.e., https://screenleap.com/[screen share code] or by going to your personal link and entering the 9-digit screen share code. You can also specify your own access code if you prefer.
2. Everyone can now schedule meetings (free accounts are limited to 2 upcoming meetings at a time). Previously, free users could only start on-demand screen shares, which is problematic if you have back-to-back meetings and you are sharing to your personal URL (https://screenleap.com/[your handle]).

Unified Presenter Interface

We have moved all the controls that you will use during your meetings into a unified web interface that all the presenter apps will use. No matter what operating system you are using, you will soon be able to control your meeting using the same familiar interface.

The new presenter interface includes a preview of your shared screen so you can check ahead of time that your screen share is working correctly.

We have also made it easy to change your meeting settings during your meeting, instead of requiring you to configure everything in advance:

1. You can now start recording your meeting after your meeting has already started. Previously, you had to enable recording before starting your meeting.
2. You can now start and stop recording your screen multiple times during your meeting. Previously, you could only start recording when your meeting started and stop recording when your meeting ended.
3. You can now change the quality of your screen share during your meetings. For example, you may want to increase the quality if you are sharing a complex spreadsheet (high quality image but lower frame rate) or lower the quality when sharing a video (for better frame rate).

Coming Soon

There are many more exciting features that will be included in the upcoming release, but we wanted to share some of them with you now so you can hopefully get as excited as we are. Wishing everyone a Happy Leap Day again!

We are excited to announce that collaborative screen sharing is now available for the Screenleap for Mac and Screenleap for Windows apps. The collaborative screen sharing feature allows you to share control of your computer with your viewers so that you can seamlessly collaborate together online.

You and the viewer you are collaborating with will each have your own mouse cursor to control. You will both be able to interact with your computer using your respective keyboards and mice at the same time—it’s even better than having the other person sitting next to you at your computer since you don’t have to share your keyboard and mouse!

How It Works

To share control of your screen with one of your viewers, you will need to have at least one person viewing your screen share. Once you have people viewing your screen, click on the mouse icon on the Screenleap console, select a viewer, and then select Share mouse/keyboard control.

Your viewer will now be able to control your computer from their browser—they do not need to download or install any software. You and your viewer will have your own mouse cursor to control (your viewer’s mouse cursor will be green and will include the viewer’s name). Your viewer will be able to point things out on your screen using his/her mouse, scroll through documents using his/her scroll wheel, and interact with your screen by clicking with his/her mouse and typing on his/her keyboard.

You can switch the viewer you are collaborating with by clicking on the mouse icon and selecting a new viewer. You can disable control sharing by clicking the mouse icon again and selecting Disable control sharing.

Permissions

If you are using a Mac computer, you will need to grant the Accessibility permission to the Screenleap app before you will be able to share control with your viewers. To grant the permission:

1. Open your System Preferences.
2. Click on Security & Privacy.
3. Click on Accessibility.
4. Check the box for the Screenleap app (you may need to click the lock icon and enter your password to allow for checking the boxes).

Limitations

The viewer sharing control of your computer will need to make sure the viewer page is the active window and the active tab. If another window is in front of the viewer window, then your viewer’s actions will not be passed to your computer.

Availability

Collaborative screen sharing will take your online collaboration to the next level by allowing you to interact as effectively online as if you were in the same room together. It is available to all users with a paid plan. Please contact us at support@screenleap.com if you would like a free trial to test out the feature.

We are excited to announce the general availability of two new features: viewer mouse and viewer registration.

Viewer mouse allows you, as the presenter, to see the mouse cursor of one of your viewers so that your viewer can interact with you and point out things on your screen. Viewer registration allows you to capture information about your viewers before allowing them to view your screen.

Viewer Mouse

Viewer mouse allows you to see the mouse cursor of one of your viewers on your screen. This will allow your viewers to interact with you by giving them the ability to point out things on your screen.

When you give one of your viewers permission to show his/her mouse cursor, you will be able to see his/her mouse cursor on your screen. The selected viewer’s name will be shown underneath his/her mouse cursor so that you will know whose cursor is being shown.

To enable viewer mouse, click the mouse icon on the Screenleap console. If you have viewers, you’ll be able to select a viewer and then select the Show viewer’s mouse cursor option.

You can switch to show the mouse cursor of another viewer or disable viewer mouse entirely by clicking on the mouse icon again and selecting either a new viewer or Disable viewer mouse respectively.

Viewer mouse is not yet available in our API, but we hope to make it available in the next few weeks.

Viewer Registration

The viewer registration features allow you to capture information about your viewers before they are allowed to view your screen share. This is especially useful if you are using Screenleap for marketing and sales webinars as you will be able to export the viewer registration information to your CRM after your presentation so you can follow up with them.

To enable viewer registration, sign into the Screenleap website select, select Settings & Preferences from the Account menu, and then select what information your viewers are require to provide. You can require your viewers to provide the following information:

• Name
• Name and email address
• Name and phone number
• Name, email address, and phone number
• Name, company, and email address
• Name, company, and phone number
• Name, company, email address, and phone number

When your viewers go to view your screen share, they will be prompted for the information you specified as being required before they are allowed to view your screen.

After your screen share ends, you can view the list of viewers and the collected registration information from the Reports page. You will also be able to export the viewer registration list as a CSV file for import into your CRM.

Coming Soon

Viewer mouse is the first step in our transition from Screenleap being a screen-sharing platform to a collaboration platform. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing support for remote control, which will allow you to give a viewer control of your computer to allow for full collaboration. Remote control will allow your viewers to assist you with doing something on your computer and to interact with you as if they were right next to you—all without requiring your viewers to install any software.

Broadcast audio is a new audio option that allows you to share audio captured from your computer’s microphone with your viewers. You do not need to call a conference number like you do with audio conferencing: you simply need to speak into your computer’s microphone. Your viewers will not need to install any software in order to hear your broadcasted audio: all they need is a web browser.

Broadcast audio will be especially helpful for those of you giving webinars or teaching classes as your attendees will not need to dial into a conference line in order to hear you. Although broadcast audio is one-way, you will still be able to interact with your viewers using our integrated chat functionality.

You can broadcast your audio from all supported sharing devices, including Windows, Macs, Chromebooks, iOS, and Android. To enable broadcast audio, go to your Settings & Preferences and select the broadcast audio option in the Audio Preferences section.

Upcoming Changes To Free Plans

We will be making some changes to our free plans starting in January: the regular Free Account will be limited to 40 minutes of free sharing per day. The broadcast feature will also no longer be available on the free plan. You will be able to continue sharing using a unique screen share code that is generated for each of your screen shares.

We will also be discontinuing the Education Free Accounts, which previously offered two hours per day of free sharing for people with education email addresses. We now offer a discounted education-specific solution for schools that priced at $99/year per teacher with the purchase of 10 or more seats. Please contact sales to learn more.