Twitter's live streaming app Periscope to shut down

The social network will instead prioritise Twitter Live for the future of live broadcasts on Twitter

Twitter is shutting down its live streaming Periscope app and will instead push Twitter Live on its native app. AFP

Twitter has announced it plans to shut down standalone live streaming application Periscope after five years.

Users will soon no longer be able to create new accounts and the Periscope apps will be taken down from smartphone application stores in March 2021.

"Although it’s time to say goodbye, the legacy of Periscope will live on far beyond the boundaries of the app itself," a statement read.

"The capabilities and ethos of the Periscope team and infrastructure already permeate Twitter, and we’re confident that live video still has the potential of seeing an even wider audience within the Twitter product."

Periscope was purchased by Twitter before it launched in 2015. People could stream quickly on Periscope, with embedded broadcasts playable in tweets, and viewers could comment or send "heart" emojis during streams on the app.

The brand also helped power the newly implemented Twitter Live feature.

Fewer people used Periscope than its biggest competitors, Facebook Live, Twitch and YouTube live streaming.

Developers struggled to keep up with managing Periscope, leading to the company's decision to discontinue operating it.

"The truth is that the Periscope app is in an unsustainable maintenance-mode state, and has been for a while," the statement said. "Leaving it in its current state isn’t doing right by the current and former Periscope community or by Twitter."

Twitter said that live streaming features will continue to be a priority with Twitter Live on its mobile application.

The team behind Periscope said the website will remain so current users can access and view past broadcasts.

"We still believe in the power of live video to solve impactful problems, which is why we’ve brought most of the core capabilities of Periscope into Twitter."

The shutdown is also a nail in the coffin for live streaming mobile applications like Meerkat, which was once the talk of social media and at SXSW.

In a sort of competition between the two, Periscope launched soon after and it was deemed the better app, leading to the demise of Meerkat. The company went on to develop Houseparty, a form of private live broadcasting.