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Popular live-streaming app Periscope, has updated its web and Android apps, adding some of its most wanted features: fast-forwarding and rewinding. The video app allows users to replay broadcasts, but before this update, viewers were forced to play through the entirety of a video before reaching their desired frame. Periscope, owned by Twitter, has started to roll out the update to approximately half of all Android users.
The new features have been implemented fairly intuitively across platforms, although the iOS version of the app has yet to receive the update. The web app now allows for either fast-forwarding or rewinding by clicking on any segment of the scrubber bar. The revamped Android app allows for a user to long-press a replay, which will then cause the video to miniaturize. Dragging a finger forwards or backwards will then enable users to skip to where they’d like. Presumably, the iOS app will function in a similar manner.
Periscope broadcasts differ from videos from content providers such as YouTube, not only in that they were once live, but also because the live element causes video creators to spend the early seconds waiting on viewers. The result is an uneventful first 20 or so seconds for every replay. Skipping through the start of each replay is sure to be a common theme.
The ability to watch previous broadcasts after users end their live sessions is one of the features that differentiated the app from previous market leaders in the past. The new features expand on the value of replays, further positioning the app as perhaps the best live streaming platform currently available, with initial leader Meerkat falling behind in terms of viewership and activity. Two million users log into Periscope each day, and a staggering 40 years of video is viewed daily. The app has received heavy use from celebrities and the average user alike, and Twitter’s venture into live streaming seems to have paid off so far. The first version of the app was in development for over a year following its acquisition, which saw Twitter pay $100 million in exchange for the video app. The Periscope team has announced plans for the iOS app update to launch next week, while remaining Android users will see it soon. Check the app to see if your device has received the new features or download the app through the link below.
