Meerkat for Android: livestreaming app beats Periscope onto Google’s mobile operating system

App, once the toast of the tech community, has been lagging behind Twitter’s official effort

A meerkat is spotted at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire (Brian Robert Marshall/Geograph/Creative Commons)

Meerkat, the livestreaming app, has launched a call for people to test its Android app, marking the first time it or its big competitor have been available to Android users.

Both Meerkat and Twitter’s own Periscope launched on iOS, with users able to watch videos through the browser. And both promised that they were working on bringing their app to Android.

Meerkat became the first to do so, today, opening up the app to “external beta testers”. Prospective Android-owning livestreamers have to enter through a form, and will be notified if they are chosen to test out the app.

It’s unclear when Meerkat will launch its Android app fully. That means that Periscope could still be first to get a public version of its app onto Android, since it is unlikely to go through the same public testing process and could release a full version of its app at any time.

Meerkat was launched before Periscope, and caught on at the SXSW festival earlier this year. But Twitter launched Periscope soon after, and it now hosts many more features.

Though the apps offer the same basic functionality, Periscope has access to more of Twitter’s backend and offers a slicker and more refined user experience.