Meerkat (app)
 | |
| Original author(s) | Ben Rubin |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Life On Air, Inc. |
| Stable release | Android: 0.9.6 (May 10, 2015[2]) [±] |
| Development status | Inactive |
| Operating system | iOS, Android |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Video streaming, social networking service |
| Website |
meerkatapp |
Meerkat was a mobile app that enables users to broadcast live video streaming through their mobile device. Once signed up, Meerkat users have the option of connecting their Facebook and Twitter accounts, and stream directly to their followers as soon as they go live. The app was formerly available for both iOS and Android.
The app was released in February 2015, then quickly found popularity after its debut on the website Product Hunt, as well as widespread use during the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, both in March 2015.[3]
On October 4, 2016, Meerkat was shut down.[4]
Development
Meerkat was developed by Life On Air, Inc., a team headed by founder and CEO Ben Rubin. The back-end powering the app was developed over the course of two years for a previous video product of theirs.
The company raised $12 million in venture capital funding from Greylock Partners in March 2015.[5]
News
Streaming App Meerkat Is Officially Dead now. The app was withdrawn from application stores earlier this month, and services have stopped. The developments are noticeable all over the internet. Meerkat’s twitter account has become private, and the website redirects you to Houseparty’s site.[6]
Twitter reaction
In March 2015, weeks after the release of Meerkat, Twitter cut off Meerkat's access to its social graph, then announced the acquisition of the competing app Periscope.[7] Twitter publicly launched Periscope on March 26, 2015. Apart from providing the similar functionality of live-streaming to users' Twitter followers, Periscope also gives users an option to let anyone play the stream back.[8][9]
Meerkat-based tools
Various additional services and tools have been developed that make use of Meerkat. These did include Katch.me,[10] which, until April 22, 2016, allowed users to save their Meerkat stream via the cloud,[11] and #lookats,[12] which lets users view and chat on Meerkat directly from their browser.[13]
References
- ↑ "Meerkat iOS Page".
- ↑ "Meerkat Android Page".
- ↑ "Meerkat is the biggest hit at SXSW". From the Grapevine.
- ↑ "Meerkat live-streaming app 'dead'".
- ↑ "Meerkat raises $12 million - Business Insider". Business Insider. 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "Confirmed: Streaming App Meerkat Is Officially Dead".
- ↑ "Twitter cripples Meerkat by cutting off access to its social graph". Venture Beat. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
- ↑ "Periscope, Twitter's answer to Meerkat-style live streaming, is now available". The Verge. The Verge. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ↑ "Periscope social video sharing". theappzine.com.
- ↑ "Katch". Katch. 2016-03-16. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
- ↑ https://katch.me
- ↑ "#lookats". lookats. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ↑ "lookats.com, para buscar y ver en vivo los videos en streaming de Periscope y de Meerkat". wwwhatsnew. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-28.