Periscope is one of those livestream services that have gathered quite a bit of traction this year. It was bought by Twitter early in the year, starting with an iOS app and later an Android one. Several updates have been pushed to its mobile apps and the desktop version as well over the course of the year and today, they have announced 4 new updates to the mobile apps:
- Better Global Map
The Periscope app has an inbuilt map (Global Map) that allows you to see broadcasts that are being beamed from all over the world. It only displayed a maximum of 250 real time broadcasts. Due to the fact that there are millions of Periscope users all over the world, the map was rather limited in functionality. In this new update however, they have made a significant update to Global Maps where it now displays both live broadcasts (shown by red circles) and replays (blue circles) complete with badge counters that have been generated in the past 24 hours.
- Support for skipping ahead on replays
Some of the saved livestreams can be quite long and Periscope saw the need to include support for skipping along the length of the replay. You only need to hold down while on the video and drag it left or right to skip back/skip forward respectively.
- Pinch to Zoom for Android
iOS users already had this feature and Periscope has finally made it possible for users who use the Android app be able to zoom in and out while they are broadcasting. Better late than ever.
- Support for 3D touch
The new iPhones (6S and 6S plus) have an additional way of interacting with a touch interface (3D touch) and Periscope now supports these gestures. In peek mode (pressing slightly on the icon), they have added handy shortcuts: Search, Initiating a broadcast, starting a private broadcast (Broadcast Mutuals) and watching a random livestream (Teleport).
