Meerkat vs. Periscope. Which is Better?

So over the past month, we have all been hearing about Meerkat. Meerkat this! Meerkat that! Then two weeks ago, Twitter-owned Periscope made a splash onto the live-streaming app scene. In that very short amount of time, Meerkat has seen its success take a huge hit. Meerkat was inching closer to breaking into the top 100 downloaded apps from the App Store but once Periscope came out, it plummeted to the 500s and Periscope is in the top 10.

Both apps allow users to live-stream what they are seeing. Both apps post to a user's followers within the app and connect to a user's Twitter account. Both allow for viewers to leave comments and interact.

However, the question is still very much in the air, "Which app is better?"

Well, there is some serious evidence that Periscope is already winning the war. One of the differences is that with Meerkat, you only see video streams from people you follow on there; with Periscope, you can also see streams from anyone via the People button, whether you follow them or not. Don't worry, it doesn't get overwhelming or annoying. It's quite nice, actually.

For more reasons, it seems that Periscope is the winner between the two apps. Here are some reasons why, according to our Chicago marketing company team.

• The User Interface. Once you launch the app, you can immediately see three "featured" videos. From there, you can also see a list of videos from people you follow and via the People button, you can see videos from people you don't follow. You can add more people to your list of those you follow, too. 
• On Meerkat, when you launch the app, if there is no one streaming, then you can't watch any streams. The only thing you can do is start your own stream or schedule a stream. Well, there is one thing you can also do, you can see who the most popular streamers are. That's it. 
• The GPS location. If you so choose, you can enable GPS to connect with your Periscope streams. People can also see which direction you're pointing in the stream, too. While some may feel this is TMI, it can be cool. Don't want you location to be known? Don't enable the GPS. 
• Meerkat doesn't have GPS. 
• You can do private broadcasts. On Periscope, you can choose to only have certain people see your broadcast, instead of everyone who follows you on the app (and Twitter). So, if you want to have a live-stream that only your friends and/or family can see, you can do that. 
• On Meerkat, everyone that follows you can see every stream you do. 
• You can save streams. For a period of 24 hours, your streams can be saved on Periscope for people to view after your stream ends; viewers can't interact or comment but they can still view it. After the 24 hour period, your saved stream disappears. 
• You can't actually save your streams on Meerkat. You can "save" them by saving them to your camera roll. Also, if you use the #Katch hashtag, then you can publish your stream to YouTube. Both are viable options but are difficult and not actually saving your stream for later viewership like with Periscope. 

So it seems that Periscope is definitely winning the battle between the two apps. Decide for yourself. For more comments, email Integraphix, a Chicago digital marketing agency and chat with us!