The live-streaming market size is expected to reach $3.21 billion by 2027 growing at a CAGR of 21.2%.
Therefore it’s quite natural that every content creator would like to have a share in this pie. And for that you need to build a live streaming app. The increased number of mobile devices along with internet users is expected to drive the growth of the live streaming market.
However, to build a live streaming app requires a well-planned strategy. It requires you to make informed decisions from your end including which platform is most feasible for streaming content.
What Is A Live streaming App?
A live streaming app helps users to record and broadcast video simultaneously. High-speed internet and advanced cameras are two of the main reasons behind the growth of live-streaming apps.
Interesting facts about Live streaming apps
- About 80% of the U.S consumers choose live video over blogs
- People watch live-streaming apps more than on-demand videos
- The live stream viewing rate is 10-20 times higher than any other media
- Organisations using video for promotions witness a rise in their revenue which is 49% higher than non-video users
- Today’s generation show an increasing interest in watching and following live streams.
Steps to Build Your Own Live Streaming App
It is important to note that building a live streaming app or mobile app development can be a challenging and time-consuming process.
Therefore, it is recommended to work with a team of experienced developers and designers or with a firm that is capable of building a live streaming app. This will ensure that your app is built efficiently and functions as expected.
Building a live streaming app can be a complex process, involving several steps. Find below some general steps that can be adhered to:
1. Determine the purpose of the app
Identify the target audience, the type of content to be streamed, and the features that the app should have.
2. Describe your audience and their requirements
Plan and conduct interviews with users to find out the challenges, actual requirements, and any other suggestions they offer. The feedback at the very start will set you on the correct path when creating the live app.
3. Select Monetisation Strategies
You can monetise the live-streaming app in any of these 3 ways:
- Paid app- A fee is charged from users for downloading the app.
- Freemium- The app is available for free but when the user requires additional features, they would have to pay for it.
- Advertisements- Charge advertising fees to run ads on the app.
TikTok makes money in three different ways: advertising, in-app purchases, and E-commerce offerings. Usually, a product uses a mix of two or three ways to monetise, as that would make it secure and reliable.
4. Make use of a stable platform for Live Streaming, Hosting, and Storage
Decide on the platform on which the app will be built. The platform can be web-based or mobile-based, and it should support live streaming.
You have to decide on a platform that is most suitable for streaming, hosting, and storing the content. Users will not tolerate low-resolution videos. Therefore, it is wise to select one where performance is excellent and reliable especially when users and traffic scale.
5. Develop UI/UX Design
Develop the app which involves designing the user interface, developing the backend infrastructure, and integrating the streaming server into the app.
You need to provide a great user experience to stand out from the competition apart from technology. Thus, invest wisely in getting the UI/UX design done in the best manner for the app.
6. Create and Test Your MVP
You could have a variety of ideas that you’ll want to execute in your live video streaming app. The best way to test it out is by building a MVP.
A MVP is a lightweight version of the app that comprises of the most important features required to function. It’s easy and enables you to get feedback from users with ease.
Test the MVP to ensure that it functions properly, and make necessary adjustments
7. Launch the app
Launch the app on the chosen platform, and make it available for download or use.
Tips on live streaming app development you can count: –
Live Streaming App (Tech Stack)
The server is the backbone of the app, and it is responsible for handling the live streaming of the content. There are many streaming servers available, such as Wowza Streaming Engine, Red5, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media Services.
Just like other mobile apps, you will have to decide upon databases, programming languages, and messaging queues. However, 3 most important facets that require your attention are:
- Streaming Protocol
There are two protocols to stream videos
- RTMP protocol- This is used for high-definition streaming at concerts and conferences. The benefit of using RTMP is that you would be able to transmit high-quality audio/video.
- WebRTC Protocol- This concentrates on real-time communication. You can locate it on video-call platforms like Google Hangouts, and Zoom. This protocol is superior in speed. It will cancel out the transmission quality if the bandwidth is not up to the mark.
- Streaming platform
It is imperative to choose a platform that is suitable for content streaming. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an apt solution in this case. It helps with mandatory tools to handle streams, host the application, and provide content to users.
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Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, is a distributed network of servers that work together to deliver content to users from a location that is geographically closer to them, resulting in faster and more reliable access to content.
CDNs are used to improve the performance, security, and scalability of websites, mobile applications, streaming services, and other digital platforms. This done by storing cached copies of content on multiple servers located in different regions or countries, so that users can access the content from the server that is closest to them.
CDNs are used by a wide range of organisations, from small businesses to large enterprises, to improve website performance, increase user engagement, and reduce infrastructure costs. Some popular CDNs are: Akamai, Cloudflare, and Amazon CloudFront.
8. Release, Maintain, and Improve
After launching the app, continue to maintain and update it to ensure that it remains functional and relevant.
Once you are done with the launch, you should start to track and analyse user behaviour on your live-streaming app. Hence, it is important to take them into consideration, test, improve and execute what works to the existing functionality.
Necessary Features In A Live Streaming MVP
- User sign in
Simple registration form to create an account for the users.
- Live Streaming
Enables the users to record and broadcast a live stream to subscribers who have subscribed to their channel.
- Search
This allows users to search content by trending, channel, interests, topic, and popularity.
- User Profile
Display the user’s profile picture and personal info to subscribers
- User gallery
Stock recorded videos on the user’s profile.
- Comments / Rating
Live streaming apps depend on social engagement. Thus, it is mandatory to include comments and ratings so that users can leave a feedback.
Cost to build a Live streaming MVP
The average cost of creating a live video streaming app is from $26K to $48K. This sum is only for one platform. You need to pay more if you want to build it for both Android and iOS.
Features Necessary For A Live Streaming App
- Chats- It helps the streamer to interact with the audience in real-time.
- Feed- It is where users have more authority in personalising the kind of content that is delivered.
- Subscriptions- Include various types of subscriptions and enable users to handle them easily from the app.
- Recommendations- Showcase related content to the users depending upon their preferences and past viewing history.
- Notifications- Sending notifications to the user if interesting content is being streamed.
- Additional streaming Features- Adding features like a filter or screen sharing paves a way for more innovative ways of using the app.
Conclusion: Build A Live Streaming App
Broadcasters and content producers can design the user experience they prefer by building a custom mobile app. Modern mobile live streaming apps differ in style and functionality. While some are straightforward platforms, others give users access to a huge selection of on-demand and live streaming media.
Smartphone apps are perfect for broadcasters wishing to monetise their video content. A scalable mobile app, for instance, has the potential to significantly increase your subscriber base.
Making your own live streaming app does require the appropriate resources, as you may imagine. These outlays may seem substantial at first, but they can help your streaming company’s potential grow.
Get in touch with us for a highly scalable Live video streaming software.
After an Engineering degree and a Diploma in Management I devoted 16+ years working in the automotive industry. My innate skill and extreme passion in writing, encouraged me to adopt it up as a profession. I have been writing for more than 10+ years in the software industry. The 400+ blogs I published are informative, exhaustive and interesting to a professional and causal reader.
