How to Craft a Live-Streaming App?

Live streaming is a flourishing industry. From news updates to companies showing their services and products on IGTV, mobile streaming apps have become a great option for business growth and all content makers. Since live-streaming apps allow people to interact and learn more about content and around the clock, this tool represents a future all business owners should consider. The most popular streaming platforms are Twitch, YouTube, and Periscope, which have gained immense popularity all across the world.

Even though it may seem the market is full of ideas and there is no space for newcomers, the streaming industry develops every day and provides a warm welcome for any new player. The revenue in this segment is projected to reach US$82,431m in 2022, with an annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2026) of 8.90%. Experts believe live streaming is going to reach US$ 115,920m by 2026. 

It is also worth mentioning that recent statistics show that up to 82% of media users prefer watching live videos compared to social media posts, while approximately 80% prefer watching videos over reading a blog. Due to COVID-19, this sector rocketed in popularity, allowing people to stay in their social lives with more engagement and productivity.  

With numerous products providing these features, live streaming development might be challenging for those inexperienced with the industry and its requirements. Since there are many ways and ideas on how you can start and enter this ecosystem, we are going to break down our easiest and most efficient steps for your market success.

What does a Live Streaming App Mean?

These are broadcasting software applications designed to capture, stream, record, and share live content. The complexity of each platform varies from company to company. The simplest products contain only a small number of features and allow media consumers to capture and stream their content. Comparatively, features-rich products and complex video hosting platforms can be used for recording advanced search while also providing promotional tools.

Types of Streaming Applications

Live Broadcasting Apps

This type of platform is the most popular today in the streaming sector. These platforms allow consumers to broadcast live recordings of sounds and videos to other people who have access to the stream. Broadcasting software gives birth to the popularity of online influencers and celebrities. The most popular are Twitch, YouTube Live, and Periscope.

Audio Streaming

Just like its name suggests, these platforms allow users to make a video out of the picture, providing an audio streaming platform. These apps are highly convenient for those showing podcasts, music, and other audio that is transmitted over the internet in real-time. Spotify and Apple Music are most well-known today.  

Video On Demand Streaming

These apps have been here for a while, allowing people worldwide to schedule and watch any TV shows online when they want. The bright examples of this category are Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video.

TV Broadcasting App

Even though cable TV has low popularity as people tend to use online services, TV companies crafted their own broadcasting apps with more convenient and engaging streaming systems. These types allow users to explore all the content produced by the TV company while also providing live broadcasts. YouTube and Sling are the most popular ones that fall into this category.

Best Mobile Streaming Apps 

Twitch

Twitch is considered the most famous streaming app in 2021, having approximately 2.8 million active viewers per sampling period. This platform is widely used by gamers who gain popularity by showing their gaming sessions to gain money from viewers. The app also allows users to discuss questions in a chat with other viewers. In addition, they are allowed to use special internal currency, called Bits, to donate and support their favorite streamers.

YouTube

Although YouTube was first developed to host premade videos, the service was a pioneer in providing live streaming. This product allows all users to create live streams and watch other people go stream as well. Furthermore, YouTube is filled with many other features, like movies, sports, news, TV shows, and an open comment chat.

Instagram

We all know what Instagram is. This platform has been crafted as a social network where people can show their photos, videos, and text posts. However, within time, Instagram added a live streaming feature, and now many people go live every day. Real-time streams represent an additional feature of Stories. Instagram gave influencers a great opportunity to communicate with the audience and gain revenue on showing products. 

Steps for Building a Live-Streaming App

1. Identify the target audience and choose the niche

This is an essential step in the development of your future platform. The right direction will affect the whole process and ensure success. Try to correctly determine your target audience because it is one of the key elements of a great live streaming service. You need to identify the user’s needs and pain points to provide a solution that will cover all or most of them. The more detailed you are in plan creation, the clearer plan you will have, and your team will be aware of all minor points.  

2. Choose a trusted partner

Since the partner you choose will affect the time and resources needed for the development, make sure your partner is trusted and has experience in this niche. There are two possible ways you can consider. The first one is to create your own team by hiring specialists one by one. This might be a challenging task for startups and middle-companies who don’t know where to find high-skilled professionals. 

The second and more appealing option is hiring an entire team or outstaff company. These companies usually provide the best developers for you who have already worked in this industry. These teams are more experienced and ensure the highest quality of the service, allowing you to easily manage goals you set and achieve success. 

3. Create wireframes and prototypes

When all questions are answered, your team, alongside you, should start implementing the plan by creating wireframes and prototypes. Wireframes are the first stage where a draft of the project is developed. It usually represents a set of black-and-white screens showing the most vital functions and all the ways users may use the platform. 

A prototype is a sophisticated version of the first draft that can help you understand the user flow. Therefore, this may help you identify how the service is going to work and what problems will be solved when developed. In addition, at this stage, you can resolve mistakes, as it is much cheaper than at the last stages.

4. UX/UI Design

When your team develops wireframes and prototypes, the next step is the UX/UI creation to understand the visible part of the product. Even though most people think that functionality is the key to success, the design matters even much better. Make sure the interface looks great, contains relevant information, is easy to navigate, and performs the required task.  

5. Development

This is the most time-consuming stage of the process. The more functions your plan contains, the more time and resources you will need to realize the idea. The best way to figure out the development is to make the MVP (a minimum viable product) that includes only the key features and functionality, allowing first users to review the service. A live streaming MVP usually contains the broadcasting, user profile, and comments. 

6. Testing

Even though there are many ways your team can test the app, they are all required for a particular purpose: to guarantee that your product can work properly without errors or crashes. The main testing types are load, unit, and smoke testing.

7. Launch and support

The final stage of the development is the mobile app launch. This should also be performed by an experienced team that knows the guidelines provided by Apple and Google marketplace. When your platform is in online stores, you will need to collect feedback and remove issues appearing from time to time.

Key Features of Live-Streaming App

Sign up/sign in

Regardless of what type of a live-streaming mobile platform you run, they all have to begin with sign-up or sign-in features containing the basic data like name, email, and password. 

Live Streaming

No one will be surprised with this feature, as it is a must-have for any such platform. However, you can make it simple by just activating the camera and mic through a button. Keep in mind that users strive for quality, so pay close attention to the video quality, meaning you have to ensure the video resolution, filters, and transmission bandwidth work properly.

Search

This is a vital feature as you need to provide users with an opportunity to easily navigate through your service and find what they came for. And an advanced search is the best way to guarantee this. You can allow users to search according to keywords, names, groups, people, or videos. 

User Profile

Since live-streaming software is not just about live videos, you should provide customers with a well-thought-out profile. These platforms are like unique social networks that connect people all across the world. Choose what information users may fill in their profiles, where most common is name, geolocation, preferences, and interests, helping them to match based on relevant content. 

Commenting system

Any streaming platform should contain a rating or commenting system to allow users to improve their content and collect feedback. This will make your product an appealing option for streamers and influencers as they will know how to grow and develop the content they provide. However, to prevent abuse, create a button that will help streamers to report inappropriate comments.

What are monetization ways?

PPV Method (Pay-Per-View)

This is the most popular way to gain revenue from streaming services. It works really easy – charge your viewers an entry fee to a particular stream. 

Subscribing 

Subscription-based applications are highly popular today, as if your app contains many unique features, users will pay to see how it works. You can either make the app free and allow them to improve the functionality by purchasing a premium version or just charge the payment for downloading.

Put Ads

Even though most people do not like ads, you can still use this tool to grow revenue and monetize the app. This is the easiest and quickest way of getting money out of the platform, so consider it before starting the development.

How Can We Help You With Developing A Live Streaming App

Interexy is a well-recognized development company that has already developed and launched streaming apps like Testigram. This is an application that was developed especially for religious people with the similar functionality of Instagram. 

Our team is made up of the best developers and designers who can realize any idea. We carefully chose all developers for your project, ensuring all they have needed experience and skills. We provide mobile, web, and on-demand apps development. 

Final Thoughts

If you were wondering what app to develop to achieve success and gain revenue, entering the live-streaming industry today is the best way. Even though there are many competitors, any new idea can become a game-changer. However, it is vital to ensure you hire a trusted development partner with relevant experience and required skills, so you will have peace of mind at every stage of the process. And Interexy is always here to step in any project and lead your app to success.

FAQs

How Does A Live Streaming App work?

Live streaming applications broadcast the video and audio session of your camera to other viewers using specific protocols (RTMP, WebRTC).

How Do I Monetize A Live Streaming App?

There are many ways you can monetize your app. The most popular ways are placing ads, providing subscriptions, and charging a fee per view.

How Long Does it Take to Build My Live Streaming App?

There is no simple answer to this question. This depends on many factors like app complexity, number of features, budget, resources, and more. However, if you hire an entire team, it will significantly reduce the time needed for the development.