Transcoding on the client instead of in the cloud increases the amount of CPU and upstream bandwidth needed, and both are in short supply on phones.
To put this in perspective, three live encodes/ streams (360P, 540P, 720P) using Wirecast on a high end Macbook Pro pegs the CPU around 60% and requires at least 5MBPS upstream.
I understand the financial reasons for this architecture - cloud-based transcoders are crazy expensive - but from a customer satisfaction POV it's not an easy project.
To put this in perspective, three live encodes/ streams (360P, 540P, 720P) using Wirecast on a high end Macbook Pro pegs the CPU around 60% and requires at least 5MBPS upstream.
I understand the financial reasons for this architecture - cloud-based transcoders are crazy expensive - but from a customer satisfaction POV it's not an easy project.