Periscope, a video streaming app owned by micro-blogging giant Twitter, is now available on Android. The app brings live broadcasting to mobile devices. It also allows users who watch live programs on the app to share messages that pop up on the screen during stream sessions.
Twitter nabbed the popular streaming app earlier this year. It first debuted on the App Store two months ago. Within the first week of the app’s debut, there were over a million downloads.
Periscope for Android offers more control over notifications
Key differences with the iOS and Android app involve notifications, as users of the latter get a little more control over them. Android users can opt in to receive notifications of specific activities, such as when a follower shares a broadcast or gets another follower.
Those watching live broadcasts on their phone can easily get back to the program they were watching even after an interruption. Other useful features with Periscope include the ability to conduct live broadcasts and access a live chat mode exclusively for followers.
Periscope uses a lot of data
The only downside with the new Periscope app is that these services tend to consume a lot of data. BBC Click’s Kate Russell tested out the app by streaming for 11 minutes, and she quickly used up 250MB of data. She explained that it was easy to go over data caps with random streams for half-an-hour. She reminded users to be aware of how much data the app is consuming if they use a low data plan.
The Periscope app allows users to share the world as they see it. The app is popular with smartphone users throughout the world as it lets people view live content, something most video streaming websites don’t offer. Periscope has at least one competitor in Meerkat, a similar app already available for iOS and Android.
