Exactly what is live streaming? It’s a live broadcast that appears on users’ devices in real time. It allows thousands of people to watch videos of things that are happening at the moment. This is very popular among gamer, but gaming certainly isn’t the only sphere in which you can use it.
For example, breaking news makes up 56% of all watched content, coming right before live streams from concerts and festivals. Learn about Doctor On Demand App Development, Grocery Mobile App Development, and much more related to the application development company.
But it can also be extremely useful for your brand, as most people would rather watch a branded video than read a blog (we’re glad you’re reading this article, though!)
Live streams are even more popular in mobile apps, as people mostly watch videos on their mobile phones. Moreover, according to Tubular Insights, individuals spend eight times more time watching live streams than watching on-demand videos.
If you want to create a live stream video software program, it’s a fantastic plan. The movie industry will only continue to grow. Before we delve into tips and main features for a live streaming software, however, let’s define their forms.
Generally, there are two of them:
Video streaming application programs
Live video streaming or broadcasting apps
The first type streams videos that are already uploaded by users. They’re stored on a server so users can watch them anytime.
Live video streaming, on the other hand, means that videos can only be watched as they’re being broadcast. They’re sent straight from device to system in real time, so there’s no need to have a large amount of server storage. However, sometimes videos are stored for some short period of time.
In this article, we’ll talk about live video streaming apps, as they gain more user attention which can bring profit to your business. We’ll also tell you how to create a video streaming app.
So where can they be used? The answer is pretty much anywhere. Not only gaming and breaking news can draw lots of attention. For example, you can use it as a marketing promotion tool. Offer your clients some interesting information in video format to get their attention.You can also offer live training or tutorials that people can watch and share within your app or on social media. This is often useful if you own a fitness application or a health-related business. Streams enable you to give valuable information while simultaneously promoting yourself and demonstrating your expertise. Fitness tracker app development industry works great with video streaming, as you can provide great fitness lessons and let the system track the user’s progress.
Paid streams of culinary classes are one possible strategy for your app. Or you can offer your users the ability to use their capabilities with Internet of Things devices to look after their pets or children, for example. Or you can add Cardboard functionality to your mobile app to make it more engaging. Cardboard is Google’s VR platform that uses a head mounted display to turn a smartphone into a virtual reality tool. There are three kits from Google that allow you to make Cardboard applications.
Features of video streaming programs
A live streaming app can be simple or complex: everything depends on your budget, business model, and idea. First, we’ll discuss all the necessary features you should include. We’ll then offer an estimate so you can see how many days it will take to develop each feature. The price of developing a live streaming app will depend on a hourly rate of the developers you will hire.
Profiles and settings
Creating a user profile and customizing it according to user preferences is very important. Personal accounts need to contain interests and be customizable for each individual user.
You can also add several ways to register – for example, with the help of Facebook, which will make onboarding faster and more convenient.
Search and geolocation
Users want an easy-to-use and simple tool to find streams. Your app needs to use geolocation to allow users to find broadcasts based on their current location. Also, search can be used for find other users and add them to friend lists.
Commenting on live streams
Sharing opinions and giving feedback is a great part of live streaming. You can’t get the same experience with TV, for instance. With comments, users can ask questions and get answers in real time.
Development time: 15-20 days
Live streaming
The most important feature for a live streaming app, of course, is the live streaming functionality itself. If you create a live streaming app that allows any user to stream and watch streams, you should also add an ability to record them. However, recording isn’t necessary if you’re planning to be the content producer or just include some streaming functionality into an existing app.
Development time: 20-30 working days
Additional features
Live video sharing
In addition to commenting on videos, you can give users the opportunity to share them with friends. This will directly boost your views and engagement rate.
Development time: 3-5 days
Local or cloud storage
Despite their high engagement rates, streams aren’t always that convenient: things can get in the way and distract you from watching a stream in real time. To overcome this issue, you can add a feature to let users download videos to their local storage.
Development time: 8-15 days
In-app purchases
If you’re planning to have some paid content in your streaming app, be sure to include in-app purchase capabilities so that the payment process is smooth, quick, and secure.
Development time: 2-4 days
Animations
You can add face animations like those popular in snapchat or instagram. They detect a face and add virtual features to it in real time. As you add these into your mobile video streaming app, you can sell them to your users as in-app purchases. If your target audience is teens, this can make for great more earnings.
Development time: 10-40 days
These are all the features it is possible to choose from depending on your strategy and budget. But there are some other things you should also bear in mind when building a streaming app:
Test thoroughly
Design a user-friendly and unique UI
Build a simple UX
Testing is extremely important, especially when it comes to streaming: the broadcast has to be smooth, and you should make sure their sizes are optimal to get the best performance.
Your UI has to be distinct from other applications of the same type – you should make it unique and memorable.
Video streaming app development process
The basic steps of developing a live streaming mobile program are:
Creating mockups and wireframes of your app or new functionality you’ll be adding to your existing app
Writing technical and functional specifications
Designing the UI/UX
Developing or adjusting the backend and API for your software program
Developing the frontend or adding functions to a preexisting software program
Merging the backend and frontend
Performing quality assurance testing
Releasing the application
Some of these stages take place simultaneously – for example, testing needs to happen at every stage of functional development to make sure that the frontend and backend work together properly. While the phases of a streaming app development seem pretty clear, there are some details that distinguish video streaming apps from other kinds of mobile applications.