Twitter will discontinue the Periscope app in March 2021. Thankfully, this doesn’t change the fact that users will still be able to create live videos through Twitter Live.
Twitter Says Goodbye to Periscope
Twitter announced the discontinuation of Periscope in a post on the Periscope Blog. Periscope is the live streaming app that Twitter acquired in 2015, and it quickly gained a large following after its official launch.
Unfortunately, that popularity didn’t last. Periscope’s live streaming functionality was integrated into Twitter in 2016, which meant that Periscope would eventually lose steam.
The app’s declining popularity ultimately contributed to its shutdown. Twitter explained this in further detail, stating:
The truth is that the Periscope app is in an unsustainable maintenance-mode state, and has been for a while. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen declining usage and know that the cost to support the app will only continue to go up over time.
Twitter made the tough decision to remove Periscope from app stores in March 2021. If you have a Periscope account, you still have some time to download an archive of your broadcasts. As for broadcasts that you shared on Twitter, those will still be available as replays.
The Periscope website won’t be erased completely, but it will no longer be functional. It will instead feature a read-only archive of previous broadcasts.
Twitter Shakes Off Underperforming Apps and Features
Periscope isn’t the only victim of Twitter’s shutdown spree. The platform also killed its prototype app, twttr, and even did away with threaded replies.