Very few of us have lives interesting enough to warrant streaming them live on Twitter, but a new app gives us the option - just in case. Meerkat effectively turns your phone into a portable webcam and lets you broadcast live footage of whatever you point your handset's camera towards. And because it connects with Twitter, users already have a dedicated audience. Meerkat effectively turns your phone into a portable webcam and lets you live stream whatever you point your handset's camera towards. It has a simple premise: press the Stream button, point the phone's camera at a scene and a link to stream is automatically tweeted from a connected account . The app was built by architecture student Ben Rubin and was on display at this week's SXSW Festival in Austin. It has a simple premise: press the Stream button, point the phone's camera at a scene and a link to stream is automatically tweeted from a connected account. There is also a Schedule button to start recording at a later time. This tweet is posted with a [LIVE NOW] message. An optional #meerkat tag is added to the end of the tweet to make it easy to find. That user's followers can reply and retweet the link, to get more people involved, and watch it through the app or on a desktop browser. So far, streams have included US chat show host Jimmy Fallon rehearsing a monologue for The Tonight Show and live streams of sports. Other more mundane, and in some cases disgusting, streams have included people riding on a bus or even picking their nose . Notably, some of these sports streams have been live from the event while others have simply been a live stream of the sport on the user's TV. This means that people who can't afford a cable TV subscription could watch a game online. The top searches on Twitter include  #meerkat and #meerkat live sports  (shown) So far, streams have included US chat show host Jimmy Fallon rehearsing a monologue for The Tonight Show, Spotify streaming a live spin class with DJ and live streams of sports. When Meerkat first launched last month it imported a user's Twitter followers as well as showed who they were following. However, this was said to have annoyed Twitter and the social network cut off Meerkat's access to this service. Twitter recently bought a live-streaming service called Periscope which is a direct rival to Meerkat. Meerkat has found a way around this though by adding a search feature that lets users find their favourite Twitter users. Notably, some of these sports streams have been live from the event while others have simply been a live stream of the sport on the user's TV. This means that people who can't afford a cable TV subscription, for instance, could watch a game through someone's Twitter feed. The top searches on Twitter include and #meerkat, #meerkat live sports. It is unclear how this would affect licensing and broadcasting laws and MailOnline has asked a lawyer and broadcasters for comment. Sky told MailOnline that it: 'focuses on preserving the value of its investment in sports broadcasting rights and, as part of this, will monitor new technologies and digital distribution methods that become available. 'We work closely with our rights holder partners to, where appropriate, address unauthorised use.' Other more mundane, and in some cases disgusting, streams have included people riding on a bus or even picking their nose. The app promotes itself as a tool for citizen journalists to broadcast live footage of news events, for example. This cuts out the need to film a video and upload it to YouTube, for example. Mr Rubin told Business Insider his favourite use of the app was live BBC reporting from protests in Ferguson. There is no limit on the length of stream but once the stream has ended it is automatically removed from Meerkat's servers - similar to jhow Snapchat works. This means the stream is saved on the user's phone but can't be accessed on the cloud via the link. The app promotes itself as a tool for citizen journalists to broadcast live footage of news events, for example. This cuts out the need to film a video and upload it to YouTube, for example. At the moment the free app is only available on iOS (pictured) but Mr Rubin has said the team is working on developing an Android version . As of the 15 March, more than 91,000 so-called Meerkats - or live streams - have been tweeted, generating more than 293,800 views and 102,600 retweets according to statistics from Simply Measured . Everything that happens on meerkat happens on Twitter. Streams will be pushed to followers in real time via push notifications. People can only watch it live. No reruns. Watchers can restream any stream to their followers in real time. Scheduled streams will be distributed in the community by their subscribers. Your own streams can be kept locally on your phone, but never on the cloud. Everyone can watch on web. But people could use screen capturing software during the stream if they wanted to record and keep it. And, in theory, the app raises privacy concerns especially if live footage features people being filmed either surreptitiously or by accident without permission. There is also the wider issue of hacking. If a hacker was able to take control of a user's phone and camera they could use the service to live stream any footage they wanted. Of course, this is an issue that affects a wide range of apps, and not just Meerkat, but its immediacy and live nature highlights the problem more than on other services. There is also potential for pornographic footage to be streamed. Meerkat's terms of service doesn't address this directly but explained: 'You are responsible for your use of the Services, for any Content you post to the Services, and for any consequences thereof. 'The Content you submit, post, or display will be able to be viewed by other users of the Services and through third party services and websites. 'You should only provide Content that you are comfortable sharing with others under these Terms.' In its rules it also says simply: 'Be kind.' As of the 15 March, more than 91,000 so-called Meerkats - or live streams - have been tweeted, generating more than 293,800 views and 102,600 retweets. At the moment the free app is only available on iOS but Mr Rubin has said the team is working on developing an Android version.
Meerkat is a free iOS app developed by student Ben Rubin . It connects to a user's Twitter account and uses a phone camera to record . Once a user presses Stream, a link to the live footage is tweeted . Followers can then tune into the stream on the app or on a web browser . They can additionally reply or retweet streams to get more people involved . Streams range from behind-the-scenes footage of celebrities to people watching football matches and even users picking their nose .