Periscope launches Android app

Twitter’s live-streaming app, Periscope, is launching on Android two months after it went live on iOS devices.

Android users get Periscope on Tuesday and Twitter is rewarding them for their patience with a host of new features that are unique to the operating system.

Most of the new features relate to Periscope’s notification settings, and Android users will be able to opt in to be told when someone they follow on Twitter broadcasts on Periscope for the first time, as well as when someone they follow on Periscope shares someone else’s broadcast.

Android users will also be able to resume where they left off if they are watching someone else’s broadcast and get interrupted. And on the Android version, the broadcast can be saved for replay without having to upload the entire file, saving time and mobile data by caching it on Periscope’s servers as it is being sent live.

Periscope announced the launch in a blog post that said: “When we started Periscope, we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation — by providing users with the best way to start or watch a live video broadcast.

“As a small startup, our initial launch was limited to just iOS, but we’ve been working really hard to craft an experience that feels special on Android, yet still unmistakably Periscope. Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Periscope on Android!”

Periscope was downloaded more than a million times in the first week after launch, but Twitter have not revealed usage figures for it since then. As of April, however, stats from Mobidia suggested that Periscope, as well as its competitor Meerkat, remained a niche pursuit, with less than half a per cent of US mobile users using the app in any given month.

The Android launch may be the key to wider adoption.