Finally, Twitter has launched their much awaited live video streaming app on Google play store. The app competes with current market leader Meerkat, which too launched their app on Android a month back.
Periscope, acquired by Twitter for around $100 million, was re-launched on 26 March, 2015 on iOS platform and yesterday it made its debut on Android.
Let’s take a look at Periscope Android app more closely
Contents
The Interface
Periscope’s interface is inspired by Material design and is very neat and simple. You have 3 main screens in the app that can be accessed by simple touch-slide.
First screen displays the live broadcasts from the people you follow and a camera option in the bottom to start your own live broadcast.
Second screen displays the feed from users across the world, irrespective of whether you are following that person or not. You can simply click and start seeing the video broadcasted by them.
The third screen displays the suggestions of people you want to follow and also a search option to search for the desired profile on the app.
On third screen you get a direct option to jump into your profile section where you get very neat and flat glimpse of your profile, your followers and following stats and a option to manage the notification alerts.
As I have already mentioned that interface of the app is really good. You won’t find yourself looking for an option deep inside the app; everything is available right on the screen.
Now, if you have a look at the live streaming screen for the user, you get a very simple list of options there as well. A camera shutter and some options to add the name of broadcast, to make the broadcast public or private and to share the direct links to broadcasts on social media.
Live Streaming
Live streaming is fun as it should be because that’s the core feature of the app. Obviously you need to have a good internet connection to enjoy the live streams across the world. If you have speeds of 1MB/s or above you should be good.
Streaming on the app is quite smooth and did not lag when we were testing it. Even the sound that was broadcasted did not seem to have any delay. However, we did lose connection when viewing certain streams, though it may have been a issue at broadcasters end.
App does provide a very convenient option to switch between primary and secondary shooters with just double top on the screen.
It’s Social
Being on Twitter, Periscope is obviously a social platform too. You can follow the people exactly like you do on Twitter. In fact, when you login via Twitter, it automatically imports the contacts. Apart from this, you also get an option to comment on live streams and have an interaction with other viewers which is really good. You can also show that you liked the broadcast by double tapping on the screen.
Private Broadcast
This is one of the best features of the app. This enables you to have a private broadcast with limited number of people that you select. This makes the app very personal thing to have. Also, private streaming is as good as public streaming. You can use this features for a number of things.
When starting to broadcast, just choose between Public or Private broadcast and you are ready to go.
Private broadcast will be especially useful for activities like conducting classes or conducting private meetings.
Direct Save
Direct Save, is again a useful feature which will allow you save the broadcast that you recently did on your device. You can enable it on the Periscope settings screen, I saved some of my broadcast which I did for testing purposes and it worked like a charm.
All in all, the app is a great new addition to have on your phone or tablet. Even if you do not want to broadcast, you will surely come across some interesting people who are broadcasting very interesting stuff!
Download Periscope from Google Play store and give it a spin. Do let us know how you like it!
