Twitter-owned app Periscope today announced that the dedicated app for the live video service will be shut down by March 2021 now that most of the Periscope functionality has transitioned into the Twitter app.
The Periscope app in its current state is in an "unsustainable maintenance-mode state" with declining usage and rising costs. The Periscope team says that leaving the app as is "isn't doing right by the current and former Periscope community or by Twitter."
The writing has been on the wall for Periscope because the app's core capabilities are already available through Twitter. In fact, the Periscope team says that the app would have been pulled sooner but projects were reprioritized because of the events of 2020.
Periscope will be removed from app stores by March 31, but starting with the next release, there will be no option to create a new account in the app. Broadcasts shared to Twitter will be available as replays, and all Periscope users will be able to download an archive of broadcasts and data before the app is removed.
Although it's time to say goodbye, the legacy of Periscope will live on far beyond the boundaries of the app itself. 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.
Going forward, people will be able to broadcast using Twitter Live within the compose view by tapping on the in-app camera option. Brands, publishers, and creators can go live using Media Studio.
