Twitter launches Periscope video streaming app for Google Android, potentially doubling audience
TWITTER’S video-streaming app is finally coming to Google Android phones, just weeks after its major rival. Can Periscope double live video streams?
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LIVE broadcasting from mobile phones could more than double in popularity after Twitter launched its Periscope live video app for Google Android phones overnight.
The launch comes two months after Periscope’s debut on Apple iPhones and, suspiciously, just three weeks after its rival Meerkat made the move to Android.
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The Periscope app lets users stream video directly from their phones, sharing a link to the broadcast on Twitter, and encouraging viewers to post comments or send ‘hearts’ indicating they like the videos.
Periscope Android head Sara Haider said the demand for a Google version of the app was obvious, and could create many new amateur videographers, particularly from countries like Australia where Google smartphone use was high.
“There are a lot of Android users out there and a lot more Android users internationally,” she said. “I get a lot of tweets about it every day.
“The more people who get the app in their hands, the more crazy interesting things we will see. I expect to be just as surprised by all the Android users on the platform.”
Ms Haider said following the launch wait, Google smartphone users would get a more advanced version of the live-streaming video app than iPhone users.
Periscope’s Apple and Google app teams had worked side by side, Ms Haider said, but Android could deliver more efficient notifications than iOS simply due to “how Android works”.
“On Android notifications are a little bit different,” she said.
“We’ll issue notifications that allow you to (read them and) resume the broadcast with one tap.”
The Periscope app will also deliver recent iOS upgrades that list videos from user’s friends more prominently, and let users reply to comments.
Periscope’s Android app launch will again ramp up competition between it and independent video streaming app Meerkat that publicly launched its Android app on May 4.
Both apps have a large celebrity following, with Ellen DeGeneres, Lily Allen and Jared Leto using Periscope to stream videos, and Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Tony Hawk on the Meerkat team.
Perhaps due to its built-in Twitter audience, Periscope attracted a larger initial audience, however, with more than one million users signing up in its first 10 days.
Periscope came under fire for allowing its users to stream footage of the recent Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao boxing match, though the company said it responded to take-down notices within minutes.
Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo recently talked up the importance of video to the social network on an earnings call, saying he was “super excited and confident in the ability to grow the Periscope user base.”
Originally published as Twitter launches Periscope video streaming app for Google Android, potentially doubling audience
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