Live-streaming service Meerkat has updated its iOS application to add support for Facebook as well as an array of new features.
The new update, referred to as Meerkat Update #2, will allow users to log into the app using their Facebook account details and publish live stream alerts directly on the social network for friends to watch. With the update, the service is removing the necessity of having a Twitter account to use Meerkat.
Until now, Meerkat relied exclusively on Twitter to publish streams to friends. However, Twitter restricted Meerkat’s access to its platform after it rolled out competing service, Periscope.
“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 noted in a blog post.
The app also now adds support for Address Book integration, allowing users to automatically connect using Meerkat with their contacts.
“We auto-magically match the people you already know with phone verification and address book integration,” the blog post added.
Also new with the Meerkat update for iOS is the ‘Mobbing’ feature. If the stream meets a certain criteria of popularity, or ‘starts to mob’, it will be featured on the main Meerkat feed. There’s also a new emoji feature that briefly changes a user’s profile image according to the emoji they have chosen.
The updated Meerkat v1.3 app for iOS is now available as a free download in Apple’s App Store. The company is expected to release an updated Android app with the same features in the coming weeks.
