Periscope was Twitter’s live-video broadcasting app, launched in 2015.
Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein founded Periscope after seeing live video used during protests in Istanbul. Twitter acquired the startup before the public launch, reportedly for about $100 million. The app debuted in March 2015 and let people broadcast live video from smartphones while viewers posted comments and hearts.
Periscope was often compared with Meerkat, another early live-streaming app that helped make the format popular. Twitter integrated Periscope broadcasts into tweets and its mobile applications. Twitter discontinued the standalone Periscope app in March 2021, although some live-video functions remained available through Twitter itself.