iOS Twitter app now has button to start live Periscope broadcast … kind of

Twitter has updated both iOS and Android apps with a Live button that starts a Periscope broadcast. It’s actually a bit of a cheat, though, as all the button does is open the Periscope app – or prompt you to download it if you don’t already have it installed.

As Engadget notes, this is really just about drawing attention to the existence of Periscope for those half-dozen people on the planet who don’t already know about it.

Twitter last month announced that mentions and media will stop counting toward the 140-character limit, but hasn’t yet implemented this. Facebook got in on the Periscope-style live video action earlier this year, initially in the U.S. only before later rolling it out to more than 30 other countries.

Both Twitter and Periscope are free downloads on iTunes.