Periscope videos will now automatically play within Twitter

Periscope's videos will now appear automatically within Twitter users' live feeds. The feature was launched on 12 January and will be rolled out to iOS users in a few days. It will work similar to Twitter's Vine, and allow video cards to automatically play within the app. Essentially, users will no longer need to have a Periscope account or even the app to view the videos.

Users can tap on Periscope's video cards to watch the stream on full screen mode, in which they will also be able to see comments and hearts posted by other viewers. However, any posting of comments or hearts will still have to be done from within the Periscope app.

According to a Guardian report, the iOS version of the feature has already been launched and is supposed to be rolled out to iPhone and iPad users in a matter of days. Meanwhile, Android and web users will have to sit twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the feature (which is still being developed for their software systems) to be released.

Commenting on the launch of the feature, Periscope's chief executive and co-founder Kayvon Beykpour said, "Starting with our iOS app, Periscope broadcasts in Twitter timelines offer a new way to experience the world, giving Periscope broadcasters a window to a massive new audience."

So far, there has been over 100 million videos created and broadcast on Periscope, according to the company's blog. The feature hopes to widen Periscope's reach among Twitter users, especially those who have chosen to remain aloof to the rampant video sharing frenzy by not downloading its app.

Periscope is widely regarded as the failing, less attractive sibling of Vine. If Vine and Periscope were in an American high school, the former would be head of the popular cheerleader squad and the latter would probably be mugged for its lunch money. Unlike Vine, Periscope has so far not been able to achieve success independent of Twitter, on which it relies heavily for spreading its videos.

With the launch of its newest automatic play feature, concerns over data usage have arisen. Unlike Vine videos and gifs, which have a short life span, Periscope broadcasts can last for hours. The automatic play feature can lead to users' data being eaten up faster than usual and also affect smartphone battery life. Users can, however, disable the automatic playback feature within the Twitter app's settings.