Today, live streaming reigns supreme in the media. Every year, this form of media gains in popularity and attracts an increasing number of people. The global live streaming market is expected to reach $223.98 billion by 2028, according to estimates. This rise is attributable to an influx of investments into the industry, as well as more firms developing their own live streaming services.
However, you’ll need specific knowledge and a basic notion of how your app will look to design a live streaming app and avoid blunders. In this article, we’ll look at how to create a live streaming app, including features, monetization techniques, and a good development pipeline.
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Perspectives on the Live Streaming App Market
Before you start developing a live video streaming app, you should research the market you’ll be entering. And the live video streaming market has a few surprises in store for you. Its future prospects have already been discussed. It is worth noting, however, that this market is quickly developing. For example, between April 2019 and April 2020, the live streaming industry grew by 99 per cent, which is an astounding figure.
Many streaming apps and platforms have seen exceptional audience growth during this period of expansion. Twitch, on the other hand, continues to be the most popular platform in terms of audience and viewing time. Twitch has 9.3 billion hours of programming watched in total. This number of views is based on the fact that 63 per cent of adults aged 18 to 34 routinely watch live streaming videos.
As you can see, the live streaming industry is quite promising, and if you enter it with a well-thought-out application, you will almost certainly make a profit.
Streaming Application Types
Let’s begin with the fundamentals. One of the best and most efficient ways to report from the scene is through live streaming, which is a live video broadcast of particular events available for watching in real-time over the Internet. Streamers host all broadcasts, which are separated into distinct types by the applications they employ. grouped into many categories There are a plethora of live-streaming apps available in the most famous app stores. So, if you want to learn how to make a live streaming app, you should first learn about the different types of video streaming apps available.
Apps for Live Broadcasting
It is, after all, one of the most widely used forms of streaming media. When you watch videos in real-time, you are doing so. It is simultaneously recorded and broadcast. You can create a live streaming programme that shows how users play games (Twitch), discuss various topics, or just answer queries on the internet (Periscope, Instagram Live, Facebook Live). Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Livestream, and Periscope are the most popular live broadcasting apps.
Streaming Audio
Listening to music without needing to download it is still the same concept. Everything is clear and easy to follow. Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music are the most popular music streaming services currently accessible.
Streaming Video on Demand (VOD)
This one allows people to watch TV shows and movies without having to download them on their devices. They may, however, pause, resume, and rewind information, which is a unique capability. In most cases, users must pay a subscription fee to have access to the content. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video are the market leaders.
App for Live TV Streaming
The last sort of streaming allows consumers to watch TV online. They lose their favourite TV shows, sports networks, series, and other content when they switch to on-demand video streaming services. That is why corporations combine TV broadcasting with live streaming apps. Hulu, Youtube TV, and Amazon Prime Video are video-on-demand services, but they all have plans to stream live TV.
Apps for live streaming can also differ based on their focus. Some are utilised for work, while others are used for personal reasons. However, the majority of them blend the two.
How to Create a Live Streaming App: Important Steps to Follow
There are some things you should avoid, and our purpose is to alert you to these potential hazards. So, these are the most crucial things to take in order to establish a live streaming app.
Choose your team.
Before you begin development, you’ll need to find a team that can construct a live streaming app from the bottom up.
An in-house development team is the best option if you want to build and sustain an application over time. This strategy, however, is highly expensive, since you will need to rent an office, furnish it, and then begin the lengthy and arduous process of employing people. Furthermore, if you lack technical understanding, you will require the assistance of a specialist who will guide you through the recruiting process and assist you in hiring the essential specialists.
You can outsource your project if you’re short on cash or time. The cost flexibility of this method makes it appealing. For example, in Eastern Europe (a common outsourcing destination), the average hourly wage for a developer is $50, which is much less than $150 in the United States. Furthermore, you have access to a wide range of countries, each of which is brimming with specialists and businesses willing to assist you. All you have to do now is choose a company that meets your needs, inform them about your project, and work together. The contractor then builds your app from the ground up, allowing you to focus on business development.
Select a CDN
If you want to scale your server and construct a live streaming service, you’ll need to use a content delivery network or CDN. Even if you don’t believe you’ll need it, attempt to plan ahead of time and you’ll likely find it to be a valuable choice. You’ll have to pay extra for CDN, but everything will be paid off in the end. It will ensure that material is delivered flawlessly and without interruptions. Your development team should be able to assist you in making the best decision.
Also Read : Know the basic features and cost of On-Demand Video Streaming Application Development
Make use of dependable hosting service.
To construct a fault-tolerant live streaming app, you must select a dependable hosting provider that will provide your clients with uninterrupted streaming services. For a while, the quality of hosting may not be as crucial, but as your app becomes more successful, As the number of individuals using the service grows, so will the number of people watching a single video simultaneously.
You should have a solid server infrastructure to ensure that users receive high-quality video transmission. Using a ready-made cloud solution like Amazon S3 is a smart alternative. Don’t worry, your development team will select the most appropriate solution for your individual situation.
Consider your storage options.
All of your information should be stored in a secure location that allows people to watch videos without interruptions or unexpected distortions. Cloud services, we believe, are the ideal alternative for developing live-streaming apps. They are expandable, offer reasonable plans, and help you save money on hardware purchases.
UI/UX Design That Is Attractive
You should keep in mind that first impressions matter and people will rate your streaming service based on that initial impression. As a result, you should recruit highly qualified UI/UX designers or seek out a seasoned software development firm that can provide turnkey solutions. You can look at your competitors’ live-streaming apps and see what kind of user interface and user experience they have right now. Your software’s user interface should be simple and not overburdened with visuals.
Basic Features should be added
Create an MVP version – an app with the bare minimum of features — to test your features and ensure that your service will be appealing to users. If you’re not sure what features your streaming app should have, our next section will walk you through the process.
Testing Is Crucial
Customers will not forgive you for making mistakes because the market nowadays is flooded with options. If something fails to function effectively, a consumer will abandon your service in search of something more dependable. Your live streaming app should therefore have a very high degree of quality assurance.
Pre-Release Promotion
When you create a live streaming app, you want it to be talked about as much as possible. Your live streaming application should generate some buzz for a successful launch. Even before you complete developing a live streaming software, you must launch an advertising campaign to spread the word about it. It is worthwhile to use numerous channels for these reasons, such as social media, blogs, and so on. You may build your brand’s community on social media, which will begin to draw potential customers and disseminate the buzz about your live streaming application. To gain attention to your goods and business, you might buy adverts from more popular organisations.
You can also coordinate press releases with popular, relevant blogs. Press releases will help you describe in-depth what your streaming software will be like, as well as its key features.
Streamers should not be overlooked. Purchasing streams is a frequent strategy for attracting attention to a platform. Pay-per-view streams with native advertising can be agreed upon by you and the streamer, and they can be streamed together.
We now have a comprehensive understanding of the procedures required to construct a live streaming app. It’s time to move on to MVP features, which are the features that your new streaming app or website should include.
MVP Features for Live Video Streaming App Development
If you’re inspired by giants’ success, don’t dive in headfirst and cram your streaming app with all of their features at once. It’s better to start with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). When developing a live streaming app, it is important to consider how feasible your app is and what it lacks at the outset.
First and foremost, you must select a platform. There are a few alternatives available. Native or hybrid streaming applications are available. A native application is one that is tailored to a certain platform. The application’s code is written in a programming language designed specifically for this platform. A hybrid application is one that runs on many platforms at the same time. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are used to create it.
Focusing on native live streaming app development, you’ll need to decide on a platform for your first edition. It might be for iOS, Android, or the web.
What should a live streaming application’s MVP be? The following are the essential features that such an application would not be able to exist without:
- User registration is required.
- Making a unique user profile.
- Streaming via the internet.
- Reactions to broadcasts.
- Search.
- Server-side (stream conversion capability)
That’s all I’ve got for now. Users can create an account, broadcast their broadcasts, search for other users, and comment on streams. In this manner, you obtain a skeleton of your programme, which is sufficient for now.
What comes next? You must design more features after receiving a positive reaction and ensuring that the product is feasible.
Advanced Live Streaming App Features
In this section, you’ll learn what features you can add to your app to make it more competitive against other apps on the market.
Options for Signing Up
To create a minimum viable product (MVP) for a live streaming app It is sufficient to create a single registration option. It might be as simple as providing a phone number or email address, as well as a password. A password reset option through email or text message is also a good idea.
You can include various signup choices via social networks, for example, during the construction of a live streaming Android app. Users will be able to log in using their Facebook or Twitter accounts in this manner.
Keep in mind that everything in your app should be simple and straightforward. One of your app’s most important success aspects is usability.
Personal Information
Another topic to consider during the construction of a live streaming app is what kind of personal information will be included in user profiles. You don’t require a lot of user data at first:
- Name in full
- Photo for your profile
- Username
- Plans for subscriptions
- You can add more options afterwards. They could be:
- Year of birth
- Location \sInterests
- Preferences for food
- In a streaming app, create a profile.
- In a streaming app, how do you make a profile?
Users can utilise personal information to track a streamer’s popularity, identify people who follow similar personalities and share similar interests.
Streaming
To learn more about developing live video streaming apps, you must first grasp the notion of streaming. The transmission of an audio or video file from a server to users is known as streaming.
Various streaming protocols make this possible. RTMP is the most widely used protocol for live broadcasting (real-time messaging protocol). This protocol is straightforward and precise. In order to create a connection, a Media player contacts the server. When the client requests a video file, the server responds by providing it back. It may be transmitted to an endless number of people at the same time. The only need is that both sides have a lot of bandwidth.
You can save the stream on the server to improve the user experience. Users will be able to watch the broadcasts after they have ended in this manner. However, this capability necessitates a considerable storage space. It is not possible to build your own server. Twitch streamers, for example, may have a 6-hour record. Because the required quantity of memory will set you back a small fortune, cloud servers are a better option. Furthermore, cloud storages are simple to grow, thus I strongly advise you to consider Amazon S3, DropBox, and OneDrive for business.
System of Donation
How do you make a live streaming app that promotes creativity? Put in place a donation scheme. Donations, in addition to paying subscriptions, are the main source of money for broadcasters. Viewers who love the show can help the streamer by donating a little amount of money.
The main benefit of this feature is that it allows users to add a message to their donations, which will be seen in the stream. It turns into a technique of paying to communicate with the streamer.
You can utilise third-party technologies or create your own to establish the donation system. Twitch, for example, employs Donation Alerts, which accepts a variety of payment methods, offers streamer statistics, and announces messages in a variety of voice tones. The cost of this service is determined on the number of donations streamers get in a given month. It ranges between 5% and 7% on average.
Chat
In order to construct a live streaming app, you’ll need to include a chat function. Streamers can communicate with their audience using chat. This is how broadcasters receive feedback and viewers communicate with their favourite influencers.
Streamers value chat because it allows them to make money. Twitch streamers with a large audience, for example, can limit chat access to their subscribers. This allows them to free up the chat for more comfortable chats while also earning money. Streamers also use distinct chat emojis and a chat status that is dependent on the duration of the subscription to entice viewers to subscribe.
However, there is a big stumbling block lurking behind the dialogue. Some users are prone to spamming the chat with offensive information and symbols. Some groups or race representatives may be offended by this. So, in order to minimise situations that could lead to lawsuits, you need to set up a stringent conversation moderation system.
Twitch assigns streamers with moderation, so they must either moderate the stream themselves or find other people to keep the chat in order. If you want to give a high-quality streaming experience, you can use AI to create an automatic moderation system. It is, however, a time-consuming and costly function.
Twilio can be used to create a live streaming app with a chat feature. This set of SDKs gives you the core elements you’ll need to build a chat, such as users and messages. Twilio is a cross-platform SDK that allows your iOS or Android development team to save time and money.
Video High Definition
Keep in mind that each user’s bandwidth is different. Because some users may have a poor internet connection, your app should have the ability to change video quality. Users with a high-speed internet connection, on the other hand, may wish to watch the movie at the highest bitrate available. This variation in quality will demonstrate that you value all users equally and will draw in a larger audience to your website.
As a result, the live-streaming app development company of your choosing should be familiar with video encoding algorithms and server query optimization.
Also Read : Everything You Need to Know About Video Streaming App Development!
Search
A search engine is the next step in developing live streaming software. Your users should be able to quickly and easily navigate through their favourite channels and broadcasters.
Users will eventually tyre of the channels they watch every day, so you’ll need to provide some filters to help them find fresh content that matches their preferences.
Some of the sorting possibilities are as follows:
- By interest, by location
- Topic of broadcasts
- By the language of radio and television broadcasts
- In terms of popularity
UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) Design
If you want to make a live streaming software that stands out, you should focus on creating a unique and appealing design. It’s no secret that design has an impact on how people perceive your software. The app’s usability is totally dependent on its design. As a result, you’ll need to employ a team that can provide expert UI/UX design services from the start of your application.
Keep in mind that design is something that needs to be modified on a regular basis. As you add additional functionality to your programme, new design tasks will surface.
Privacy
Even journalists want to be able to have some privacy. Streamers spend a lot of time with their viewers and may eventually become burnt out. How can a live streaming app be made more private for streamers?
Allow your users to choose who they want to broadcast to in order to give them more personal space. Ascertain that the video may be streamed to:
- One individual in particular
- Only in a specific region
Users on Discord, for example, can only stream to people who have joined the same channel as the streamer. It also enables the creation of a restricted list of users who are permitted to view the video.
As a result, don’t overlook this functionality and look for options that will work for your application.
Other Streamers Are Being Hosted.
Twitch has released a revolutionary new feature that can benefit both established and emerging streamers. You can also add it to your list of things to do if you want to make a live streaming app for your company. When streamers are not actively streaming, they can host feeds from other users on their channels. Viewers who follow well-known streamers receive an alert when one of them goes live. The hosting user gains additional views as the audience joins the stream.
Famous streamers frequently demand money for this type of promotion, thus this function is another opportunity to monetize. Less popular streamers are likewise pleased with the increase in ratings and new viewers.
Sharing a screen is a good idea.
In today’s world, any application for online meetings has a screen sharing feature. You can share the contents of your screen with your companion by broadcasting the image. Screen sharing is beneficial for a variety of instructional and games that are being streamed.
Video games for PCs and consoles have long captivated the public’s interest. Thousands of popular broadcasters, millions of viewers, and major sponsorship investments have made game streaming a huge niche. Because simple screen sharing made this niche successful, devote some development attention to this functionality. I’m sure that adding some games to your content will help your live streaming app stand out.
Schedule and Notifications
One of the unique characteristics of live streaming is that it can be spontaneous or planned. It’s similar to TV shows in that if you miss one episode, it’ll be difficult to follow what’s going on in subsequent episodes. Stream scheduling and notifications must be considered during streaming app creation for the sake of user convenience.
This is a feature that should be included in every app because it is so simple to implement. When a broadcast begins, users receive push notifications on their smartphones. Subscribers are invited to join when a broadcaster decides to start streaming. Regardless of whether they are currently using the app.
You’ll also have to develop one more feature. With a streaming schedule, a live streaming app will improve the user experience. If a broadcaster intends to stream at a specific time, they can include this in their schedule. Viewers will have a schedule based on their subscriptions in this fashion. Users will not miss any fascinating events, streamers will have a consistent audience, and your app will be a hit.
Estimate for Developing a Live Streaming App
So, we’ve gone through all of the features you may include in your live streaming app. It’s time to figure out how much such a project will cost. Our analysts calculated the cost of developing essential features and organised their findings in a table.
| Features | Apporx development time (hours) | Backend development (hours) | Approx cost ($) |
| Authorization | 33 | 32 | 3250 |
| Profile | 35 | 36 | 3550 |
| Search | 37 | 36 | 3650 |
| Donation System | 24 | 24 | 2400 |
| Chat | 72 | 72 | 7200 |
| Notification | 20 | 28 | 2400 |
| Payment integration | 63 | 64 | 6350 |
| Player Integration | 36 | 36 | 3600 |
| Design | 80 | 4000 | |
| Streaming Channel Management | 80 | 80 | 8000 |
| Stream management | 97 | 90 | 9350 |
| Chat moderation | 40 | 28 | 3400 |
| Stream saving | 20 | 30 | 2500 |
| Admin side | 81 | 90 | 8550 |
| Framework integration mobile | 48 | 48 | 4800 |
| Database | 24 | 24 | 2400 |
| Total | 790 | 718 | 75400 |
Technical Stack for Developing Live Streaming Apps
The following is a list of technologies that could be utilised to create a live streaming application.
- Swift, Kotlin, and Java are programming languages.
- Cloudflare/Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network.
- Amazon EC2 is used for hosting.
- Node.js is the API server.
- DaCast and Wowza are two media processing platforms.
- WebRTC and RTMP are two streaming protocols.
- MySQL and Oracle are two databases to choose from.
- Firebase push notifications Notifications
- AWS messaging queues Queueing System for Beginners
- The logic of live streaming software is created using programming languages. All of these capabilities, including custom video players, video file transcoding, and payment integration, rely heavily on programming languages.
The database stores user information as well as VODs from past streams. Perfect database structures and optimised queries ensure that video streaming content is always available.
Platforms for media processing convert your music and video files into formats that are compatible with cellphones, PCs, televisions, and other devices. Wowza, for example, is a tool for optimising video bitrates, encoding, and other factors.
DaCast is a broadcasting and hosting platform that is perfectly suited for developing live video streaming apps. To integrate all of DaCast’s functionality into your applications, developers use the APIs and SDKs given by this streaming platform. DaCast also offers a cheap CDN similar to Akamai. The disadvantages of DaCast include that it has a large latency and can be slow at times.
WebRTC (web real-time communications) and RTMP (real-time transfer protocol) are the two most popular streaming protocols (Real-Time Messaging Protocol). RTMP is a protocol for sending audio and video data between a Flash player and a server over the Internet. WebRTC, on the other hand, permits data to be sent between two separate browsers.
Also Read : Key Features & Factors Affecting Online Video Streaming App Like Netflix
A Live Streaming App’s Monetization Strategies
Let’s be honest about it. When you make a live streaming app, you want to make money using a variety of monetization methods. It’s time to take a deeper look at the evolution of live-streaming apps.
So, how can you develop a money-making live streaming app? Here are a few popular methods:
This app is available for purchase- The paid approach is self-evident. A one-time fee is required for users to access your live streaming application. The user will then have full access to the application’s features. There is also no advertising and a variety of in-app purchases on these platforms. The $5.99 Broadcast Me app, for example, is an excellent example of a paid live streaming app.
App that is available for no cost- When it comes to developing a live streaming service, the freemium model is the most popular option. This method implies that your app is free to use, but you get extra benefits when you spend something (this can be either buying a separate feature or subscribing). For $12.99 each month, users can get free games, varied in-game goodies, free subscriptions to their favourite channels, and other benefits via the popular Twitch network.
Advertising- App streaming is no exception to the rule that advertising is a typical way to monetize an app. Advertisements can take the shape of banners that show in various areas of the app’s screen or full-fledged ads that prevent users from using the app for 15 to 30 seconds. Streamers typically use the advertising option to monetise their streams in live streaming software. In the Hang app, for example, a streamer can show adverts and split revenue from views with the app.
Our Know-How
Working on a Blockbuster streaming app was one of our most recent initiatives. Blockbuster, like Netflix in the 1990s, was a well-known video and game rental corporation. Later, a top-tier Danish provider bought the company’s brand rights and created a Nordic streaming platform.
Blockbuster provides a web version, as well as iOS and Android apps, as well as Android TV and Apple TV apps. We’ve been working on upgrading the Blockbuster app for mobile platforms recently.
It can be accessed both online and offline. Blockbuster provides some nice features, such as collections of your favourite movies or shows, content downloads to internal storage, and subtitles in multiple languages.
We used Swift for iOS programming and Kotlin for Android development. Our major tool for server logic was Node.js. We utilised the following libraries to make working with Amazon Web Services more convenient:
- CloudFront Lambda Elastic Beanstalk via Appollo
- GraphQL \sAWSAppSync
We used Facebook for permission, Google Cast SDK for streaming from a mobile device to a TV, and Youbora for video analytics and intelligence, among other things. Here’s a case study with further information about this project.
