Battle of the Apps: Periscope v Meerkat

apps If the first thing that comes into your head when you heard the word ‘meerkat’ is either Compare the Market or a little fluffy critter, chances are you’re in the wrong industry. If you’ve been in any way conscious in the past few weeks, you’ll know all about Meerkat and its ambition to be the ‘next big thing’ by bringing live streaming into the hands of your everyday Joe on the street. After a flying start, it seemed that Meerkat was set for success. However, it took merely days for Twitter to buy out and release its own live streaming app; enter Periscope. With a slicker UX interface and Twitter behind it, Periscope has now stomped all over Meerkat, leaving the sickly-yellow app all the way down the app charts at a less than desirable No. 523 on the U.S. iPhone download chart. No last minute funding of $14million from the likes of Jared Leto is going to save it now. Having used both apps (which both currently house awful streams from the public, one of my favourites being ‘I’ve hurt my toe’  featuring a man discussing his bandaged toe), it’s clear from the off why Periscope trumps Meerkat; it’s just plain simple to use. Slick in every way, it’s a complete experience that allows you to find streams and follow those you already follow on Twitter with ease. Combine that with the fact that communicating with those running the streams is a painless experience, in comparison to Meerkat’s current chat format, and you have an expertly conceived app that opens the door to a whole new way of communicating.