Meerkat video streaming app adds Facebook support

PanARMENIAN.Net - Meerkat suffered when its access to Twitter was put under strain, but the video streaming app has decided to get one over its rival by adding Facebook support.

Twitter blocked Meerkat's access to its social graph in March, making it impossible for users to see which Twitter followers are also using Meerkat. The cut-off also occurred just as Twitter launched its own video streaming service Periscope.

But now, Meerkat is expanding its reach to Facebook, in a bid to not only increase numbers but potentially reduce its dependence on Twitter.

Users can choose to log into the app using their Facebook account details and publish live stream alerts directly on the social network for friends to watch.

What's more, you can let Meerkat look at your contacts to integrate the service with people you already know.

"With this new update we are making it easier than ever to discover and interact with the people you already know by integrating with your phone's address book, and giving you the ability to push live and upcoming streams directly to your Facebook Page," the company said in a blog post.

"We auto-magically match the people you already know with phone verification and address book integration."

The update will also promote the most popular streams on the main page of the app from now on, using an animated meerkat, as well as a new emoji feature that briefly changes a user's profile image according to the emoji they have chosen.

Meerkat recently launched on Android, which should help it gain more users too.