Looking for conference hosting app that can run in background

[Behonkiss]

My company frequently has meetings and video chats, and we are currently looking into the possibility of hosting a conference from an iPad while using some other apps. This is mainly due to the fact that we want to use the annotate feature in things like PDF files to make notes and highlights for the whole group to see. The main two issues here are that we want something multiple types of devices (Macs, PCs, iPhones) can connect to, as well as something that can run in the background while the host opens up other apps, while still showing their screen and voice to everyone. Does such an app exist?

 

[Behonkiss]

Okay, an update: Voice chat isn't a necessary feature as they typically talk over their iPhones, and we mainly want something that can be used to send footage of someone's iPad screen when they're annotating PDFs. Is there anything out there?

 

[f4780y]

Short answer is no. An app like the one you describe cannot exist on the iPad due to Apple's sandboxing rules (apps cant run in the background and broadcast / control other apps in the foreground).

The closest you are going to get is one of the (many) interactive whiteboard style apps which are in the app store. Whilst these are generally self contained (the whiteboard etc. is part of the app), some do integrate with desktop / browser solutions too. I doubt you will find anything which also supports voice, video, etc., but I could be mistaken. You should be able to find some which allow working with PDF's though.

I'd suggest a search of the app store for "whiteboard" and trawl the results for apps with favourable reviews. Perhaps some of our members have experience of specific ones which they will chip in with...

Good luck.