Can you believe that Meerkat is no more in the world?
This is a sad day for Meerkat users. Meerkat is no more in this world. The broadcasting app has been removed from Apple’s App store and Google’s Play Store. The story behind the demise of Meerkat is not something unusual but it is definitely a learning platform for future app developers. Beware of competition and keep on innovating! Yep, that is the lesson learnt from the turbulent journey of Meerkat’s success and demise.
Why Meerkat is no more?
We just removed Meerkat from the AppStore ? bitter sweet moment seeing it go while celebrating @houseparty
— Ben Rubin (@benrbn) September 30, 2016
Well, CEO Ben Rubin and the creator of Life on Air (company that created Meerkat) said that they are now focusing on their new mobile software. The latest under development mobile app is a group video chat app called Houseparty. Houseparty is based on facilitating group chats instead of one on one conversation. The app lets you alternate between “parties” of 8 people simultaneously. It creates a drop in and drop out style of video chat between friends who are online in real-time. Reports suggest that Houseparty is gaining fast on its millionth user.
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Meerkat had a lot of rivals in the app industry that quickly sprang up as the app gained popularity. It made its debut for iPhone in 2015. It amassed popularity because of its easy ways to view live broadcasts and launch their own through their smartphones. The app faced its first jolt when Periscope hit the audience. Periscope is also a live streaming app that lets you record and view broadcasts. It is owned by Twitter that poured a lot of resources into the app. No wonder, Periscope stole the spotlight from Meerkat. Periscope offered a lot of integration and accessibility. Twitter limited Meerkat app’s access to its social graph, so the app consequently suffered popularity through social media services.
Since, social media is the new way to get the word out and twitter limited Meerkat’s access-the decline in user base of the app had been initiated. Periscope that is owned by twitter enjoyed more integration.
But Meerkat did beat Periscope on Android
The survival of Meerkat saw a glimmer when it managed to beat Periscope on Android but then Facebook Live was launched. Facebook live is a game changer for live streaming and viewing. It quickly carved a spot out in the niche of social media users. Meerkat as now closed its Twitter account and put it on private. The website of the app now redirects to Houseparty website. Caught in between two tech titans it was hard for Meerkat to survive without any new innovations up their sleeves. It is safe to say that competition killed Meerkat in the tech industry.
The app tried its best to survive but the fierce competition made its viability harder. It however, survived a good year and saw progress which means that Houseparty will be more advanced. The app Meerkat made $12 million in venture capital funding which isn’t bad at all. Its explosive popularity saw development of live streaming to higher degrees.
Now, all eyes are set on Houseparty and its future in the app market.
Image via TheNextWeb
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