The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Live Streaming App In 2024
Planning to build a live streaming app? Here’s our easy guide to mastering the art of building a dynamic app that captivates and connects with audiences.
In this era of mobile dominance, our smartphones have turned into pocket-sized powerhouses with video consumption at its peak. And did you notice that since the pandemic Covid-19 hit the world, individuals have turned into influencers?
In fact, statistics reveal that there are 2.72 billion individuals actively engaged in watching live videos on their mobile devices. And the numbers may increase more.
Well, my fellow creators, broadcasters, and tech enthusiasts,
It’s time for mobile video streaming to ripen as a successful business. So, why wait? Join me in this article in exploring how to create your own live streaming app.
We’ll discuss:
- Type of live streaming apps
- Steps to develop a live streaming app
- The key features
- Cost of creating a video streaming app.
Well, let’s jump right in!
Table of Contents
What Is A Live Streaming App?
Live streaming is a technology that transmits audio or video content over the internet. It allows viewers to watch the content as it happens on their web or mobile apps.
It lets you broadcast and share live events, performances, presentations and any kind of content seamlessly. Nevertheless, live streaming has become so popular fueled by advancements in internet speed.
It has made engagement between content creators and audience easy in real-time, meanwhile fostering connections, entertainment and business opportunities.
Why is Live Streaming Important?
Live streaming has become increasingly important in the digital landscape for several compelling reasons:
- Enhanced Ownership: Building your own live streaming platform gives you complete control and ownership over your content and business model. You can establish a fully-branded platform that reflects your identity and aligns with your goals.
- Improved Accessibility: Your users can easily access your content. This improves user engagement and experience.
- Heightened Credibility: Having a professional setup on your own platform lends credibility to your brand. It sets you apart from streaming on third-party platforms and social media sites. Meanwhile, it positions you as a serious content creator or broadcaster.
- Rapid Industry Growth: The live streaming industry has experienced tremendous growth, with a 99% increase between April 2019 and April 2020. We can expect this trend to increase as more viewers choose the real-time, interactive nature of live video content.
- Global Reach: The popularity of live streaming extends worldwide, with China alone boasting 600 million live streaming users in 2020. This presents an opportunity to connect with diverse audiences and expand your reach beyond geographical boundaries.
- Viewer Preference: Live videos draw consumer attention easily. Nearly 80% of US consumers express a preference for live video over traditional blog articles. Live streams offer an authentic, engaging, and immediate experience that resonates with audiences.
- High Engagement: Live stream viewing rates are higher than on-demand videos. It has viewers tuning in 10-20 times more frequently for live content. This higher level of engagement creates opportunities for increased interaction, real-time feedback, and building stronger connections with your audience.
- Appeal to Generation Z: Approximately 34% of Generation Z, (mid-1990s and early 2010s) have shown a particular interest in live streams. Leveraging live streaming can help you capture the attention and loyalty of this influential audience segment.
- Revenue Growth Potential: Companies that incorporate video features, including live streaming, into their strategies experience revenue growth that is 49% faster than those that don’t. Monetizing your live streaming app through subscriptions, advertisements, or other revenue streams can significantly contribute to your business’s financial success.
Types Of Live Streaming Apps
When it comes to building live streaming apps, there are different types of apps you can build. Let me explain the major 3 types:
1. Live Broadcasting Apps
Live broadcasting apps are immensely popular among creators and media businesses. They enable users to broadcast live video and audio recordings to followers who have access to their streams.
These apps are key reasons for the rise of internet influencers and celebrities.
2. Audio Streaming Apps
Audio streaming apps majorly focus on transmitting real-time audio over the internet.
Using these apps, users can listen to music, podcasts, and other audio content on demand.
3. Video on Demand Streaming Apps
With Video on Demand (VoD) streaming apps, users can watch their favorite TV shows, movies, and other video content online at their own comfort and convenience.
They can also schedule the programs to watch them for later.
How To Build A Live Streaming App In 2024?
As much as you are interested in building your app, I’m totally excited to let you know that building a live streaming app is easy and fun with the right planning and consistent execution.
Let me break the entire process into simple steps to make this easier for you.
Step 1: Define your target audience
The first thing you need to do is to understand what your audience really needs.
You can do this by conducting interviews and gathering feedback from potential users.
Doing this helps you raise the bar of your app and lets you identify any upcoming challenges .
Step 2: Conduct market research & set monetization strategy
Next is to check on the outcome of this app – monetization options. You need to decide the strategy you need to earn out of this app. Some of the popular options include paid app, freemium models and ad displays.
However, I would recommend you to combine multiple monetization models to stabilize the revenue streams to be as successful as the market leaders in this digital era.
Step 3: Select a reliable streaming platform
Once you’ve decided how you’ll set up the monetization stream, you’ll need to choose a reliable platform to live stream your content, host the app and store the data.
There is a wide range of options in the market and there are cheap ones too. So make sure to carefully choose high-quality stream and video platforms. This eventually will lead to an increase in traffic and helps your app run smoothly.
Step 4: Design the UI & UX
The next step is to set up an immersive user interface that your audience will love to use. You very well know that user experience plays a crucial role in making your app stand out in the live streaming industry.
In my opinion, I’d recommend you to choose a minimalist interface so that you can boost the user-friendliness and avoid clutter.
Step 5: Test and Optimize
Well, once you’ve built your app and its interface, you’ll now need to test run the minimum viable product (MVP).
To do this right, build a lightweight version of the video streaming app and get user feedback on it.
This way, you can validate your ideas and make any kind of improvements needed.
Step 6: Launch the app
After ensuring that the app does not have any bugs during the test runs, it is time to release your app. You can launch your app and set up tracking to monitor and make improvements as needed.
Must-Have Features Of Live Streaming MVP
While creating a streaming app, it is very much important to know the features that your users need in your app.
I’ve listed down the key features that are essential on a modern-day app:
- Sign-up/Sign-in: Lets your users create their account and log into the app using their credentials.
- Live streaming capabilities: Lets creators and business owners to record and broadcast their live video content to subscribers or followers.
- Search functionality: Allows users to search for content based on topics, popularity, trending, channels, location, or interests.
- User profiles: Displays users’ personal information and profile pictures to friends and subscribers.
- Gallery: Provides a space for users to store and organize their recorded videos within their profiles.
- Commenting & Rating: Enables users to leave comments and ratings on live streams, fostering social interaction.
You can also include the following features to your app:
- Real-time chat: Content owners and audience can interact with each other on live streams.
- Personalized recommendations: Provides users with content suggestions based on their content preferences and viewing history.
- Push notifications: Sends push notifications to users to alert them about interesting live streams or updates.
- Subscription management: Enables users to manage their subscriptions easily, including different types of subscriptions and upgrade options.
- Social sign-up integration: Allows users to sign up using their social media accounts to easily register with your app.
- Feed customization: Users can choose what they want on their feed.
How Much Does It Cost To Build A Live Streaming MVP?
When you think about creating a video streaming platform, the one thing that might concern you is the cost. It simply depends on different factors like scope of work, design complexity and the number of man hours involved.
And it is important that you note that developing a live streaming app comes with an investment. And it cannot be done for free.
Let’s break this down.
Imagine that you are building an app for one platform – Android. The estimated cost would somewhere be between $25000 – $50000 including all the dependency factors mentioned above.
Similarly, when you build for iOS and web, you will have to spend twice the cost.
Besides, the figure will somehow vary based on your unique requirements and expertise.
And to cut this cost short, many developers are opting for pre-built live streaming solution.
Some of the Best Live Streaming Platforms in 2024
1. OnTheFly
OnTheFly, though it’s new to the market, its impeccable features and outstanding tools make it stand apart from its competitors—brand building, simulcasting, and customization from point A to the end.
Its flexible nature, control over the content, and scalability ensure a high viewership and professional streaming that’s latency-free to the maximum.
OnTheFly doesn’t compromise on quality; it’s a web-based multistreaming solution that’s up-to-date and highly efficient. Its key features include studio-grade recording, multiple guest invites, branding, and unlimited chat.
2. WpStream
For those desiring the control and customization that comes with owning a streaming server but are averse to the complexity of building and managing one, a professional streaming service like WpStream could be the ideal solution.
WpStream is designed to alleviate the stress of setting up a streaming server, simplifying the process without compromising on control and flexibility.
WpStream delivers ease of use, flexibility, and extendibility while ensuring that the streaming setup is within your control. Moreover, with scalable pricing plans, you can start small and grow big as per your audience and streaming needs.
3. Restream
Restream is one of the leaders in multi-streaming platforms; it has three pricing plans: basic, standard, and professional that covers all types of features that’s useful for content creators and businesses.
Product launches, press conferences, webinars, podcasts, and flash sales can be carried out in Restream.
Its attractive invite guests feature can add up to 10 guests on 30 plus social media platforms. It is one of the best platforms to expand your reach in the competitive content world.
Conclusion
In summary, live video streaming apps are a powerful tool for reaching a larger audience and adding value to your services. People want to access streaming content anytime, anywhere. And having your own app provides them with the freedom and flexibility they desire.
People are craving content in every aspect of their lives. This makes it essential for creators to make their content more flexible and convenient to use.
You can create the best live video streaming app in different ways depending on your budget, time and technical strength.
But the quickest way to launch an efficient live streaming app is by using live streaming services and platforms.
And If you’re ready for video streaming app development, reach out to our team today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A video streaming app is a software application that allows users to watch and stream videos without downloading them. Users can watch and stream live TV shows, videos, product demos, sports videos, etc.
Building a live streaming app requires some technologies to ensure smooth and efficient streaming. Here are some of the technologies used in a live streaming app:
- Content delivery network (CDN)
- Real-time messaging protocol (RTMP)
- Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC/li>
- Media servers
- Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABS)
- Video encoding and transcoding
- Mobile and web development technologies
Yes, streaming apps are profitable based on their monetization strategies. Multiple monetization strategies like pay-per-click, advertising, sponsor contents, crowdfunding, influencer marketing, etc. will drive your streaming app’s profit scale upwards. Along with monthly subscriptions, users must have access to premium contents and pay-per-view to generate revenues.
Live streaming offers several advantages to both viewers and content creators, such as
- Real-time interaction
- Instant access to events
- Convenience and flexibility
- Broad reach and scalability
- Cost-effective distribution
- Analytics and data insights
- Monetization opportunities
- User-generated contents
The cost of making a live streaming app depends on your project requirements, technical expertise, and team size. Common pricing starts at $40000 for building an app for one platform and extends based on your requirements and the number of platforms you prefer.
Krishi Shivasangaran is a digital nomad and a veteran of Digital Marketing strategies. She is passionate about learning the newest trends in Live Video Call. And, when she's off-role, she loves to sketch and make people realize the true color of nature.