Skip to main content

Periscope’s new Couchmode feature lets you explore random streams fast

periscopes new couchmode feature for desktop lets you explore random streams fast periscope couch mode
Periscope’s been busy rolling out plenty of features and improvements since launching the free live-streaming app back in March. The latest addition to the service is currently a desktop-only experience and lets users jump quickly through a multitude of Periscope streams from around the world. It’s all pretty much random and you never know quite what you’re going to get.

Called Couchmode, the new site includes an arrow top right so you can quickly flip to the next feed if the one you’re watching fails to stimulate. Hitting the “right” arrow on your keyboard has the same effect. As each stream connects, you’re shown the title of the broadcast, the broadcaster’s user name, and where they’re located.

Related Videos

At the moment Couchmode is purely a viewing experience, in other words, you can’t interact by adding comments or hearts. And if you find either of these a distraction as they crawl endlessly up the screen, hit “h” on your keyboard to make them disappear. Hit it again to bring them back.

The San Francisco-based Periscope team announced Couchmode on Monday via one of its own regular live streams, and added that it’s still playing with different algorithms to help surface content that won’t have you dozing off. For the viewer, it’ll feel like a random ride through a myriad of content, from the compelling to the mundane. Just hope you get less of the latter.

You don’t need to sign up or sign in to use Couchmode, suggesting Periscope sees the feature in part as a way to attract more users to its iOS and Android app, links for which appear on Couchmode‘s page.

Twitter-owned Periscope is one of many apps battling for recognition in the live-streaming app market just now. Its main rival, Meerkat, has also been upping its game in recent months, rolling out a number of new features in a bid to keep up with the competition.

If you’ve heard about Periscope but up to now have held back from grabbing the app, Couchmode is a quick and easy way to get a better idea of what it’s all about.

Editors' Recommendations

Twitter will soon be a bit less irritating for many people
Twitter logo in white stacked on top of a blue stylized background with the Twitter logo repeating in shades of blue.

With or without Elon Musk at the helm, Twitter can’t seem to decide what it wants to do with its algorithmic timeline, currently branded as “for you,” which shows tweets it thinks you'll like, whether or not you follow the tweeter.

For years it’s been messing about not only with the algorithm but also with the extent to which it forces the timeline on users.

Read more
Elon Musk says Twitter will launch pricier Blue tier free of ads
A digital image of Elon Musk in front of a stylized background with the Twitter logo repeating.

Elon Musk said on Sunday that Twitter is planning to offer a higher-priced Blue subscription that will have zero ads.

Musk, who acquired Twitter in October 2022 in a deal worth $44 billion, didn’t say how much the new tier will cost, nor when it will launch.

Read more
Thanks to Tapbots’ Ivory app, I’m finally ready to ditch Twitter for good
Profile displayed in Ivory app

Ever since Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter, it’s been one chaotic new thing after another. You literally cannot go a day (or a few days or even a week) without some stupid new change to the site — whether it’s about checkmarks for verified or Twitter Blue subscriber accounts, how links to other social networks are banned and then reversed, view counts on Tweets, or something else. I can’t keep up with every little thing that has happened since the beginning of November, and it feels like the spotlight is always on the toxicity of the site in general.

New Twitter alternatives have been popping up recently, but it seems that the most popular one continues to be Mastodon. I originally made a Mastodon account back in 2018 when it first launched, but it never clicked with me back then, and I eventually went back to Twitter. With the Musk mess, I tried going back to Mastodon, but again, it didn’t really click with me — until Tweetbot developer, Tapbots, revealed its next project: Ivory.
The significance of Tapbots and Tweetbot

Read more