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It is 2023, and smartphones are the rulers of our everyday lives. Our smartphones are no longer only applicable for calling, they are a lot more than a simple computer.
We completely rely on our smartphones for our daily chores, be it for our job, education, transportation, food, health, or entertainment.
Today, we watch more videos and series on our mobile phones instead of television. Talking about entertainment, live streaming is one thing that has seen significant growth in the past three years. This type of media is gaining popularity and growing every year, winning more and more viewers’ attention.
As per an analysis, the global live streaming market will reach $223.98 billion value by 2028. It is estimated that 2.72 billion people will be watching live or on-demand videos on their smartphones.
This live-streaming trend is becoming so popular that even mobile data usage will increase up to 4 times to handle the propelling demand for high-definition mobile video streaming.
Seeing the surging demand in the live-streaming market, it is very natural that you also want a little piece of this lucrative market.
There are Twitch, ShadowPlay, Streamlabs OBS, and Gecata like giants in the live streaming market…..but there is still so much opportunity and space to profit in this field.
However, building a live streaming app to make live video content fully available to viewers on mobile devices isn’t a cakewalk. After all, viewers need to be kept happy if they want to run a successful business.
Thus, making a live streaming app requires meticulous planning. You have to make various decisions, like which platform will be most viable for streaming content.
But, no worries, we work in this field and know every single detail required to build a user-friendly live streaming app.
In today’s article, we will guide you through the entire process of creating a live streaming app.
Let’s start this!
Do You Know Exactly What Live Streaming Is?
It might be somewhat clear from the name “live-streaming” that it allows users to record and view content live. There are many such live streaming apps, all thanks to the speedy internet and advanced technologies.
Live video-streaming apps have also fueled influencer marketing, entertainment marketing, and business marketing. It has drastically changed the way people interact on the internet.
You must be thinking about Facebook Live… Yes, Facebook offers live streaming features, but now there are entire apps like Twitch for gamers and general users where they broadcast their daily activities or gaming sessions.
Let’s have a look at some interesting statistics related to live streaming apps and the industry:
- The online live-streaming industry has grown by 99%.
- By 2027, the global live-streaming market will reach more than $247 billion.
- More than 15% of internet users aged 16 to 64 own a live-streaming device.
- More than 90 million subscribers will use live streaming by 2024.
- More than 16% of current consumers using live-streaming services will likely start using alternative services if someone offers a better live option.
- Related to the streaming quality, many users can’t tolerate 90 seconds of bad quality, and there are high chances that 50% of the users will give up on a poor-quality stream.
- Live streaming videos can capture attention between 10 and 20 times longer than prerecorded, on-demand content.
- Compared to social media posts, product pages, and blog posts, users are most likely to share video content with their network.
- After 2021, users will spend more than 10% to 40% of their time watching live streaming content.
- More than 7.4 billion hours of live-stream gaming content were watched.
- The global gaming live-streaming audience will be more than 830 million by 2024.
Some of The Popular Live Streaming Apps are-
Since live streaming is the live video broadcast of events, the internet is the best and most efficient way to report from the scene. These live broadcasts are hosted by users or streamers who use varied applications of different types.
So, if you want to build a live streaming app, it is advised to first understand the types of streaming applications present in the market before deciding and planning how to build a live streaming app.
So, the popular types of live streaming apps are:
Live Broadcasting Apps
This is one popular type of streaming media. Here, you watch videos in real-time, which means the video has been recorded and broadcast at the same time. This is a good idea to build a live-streaming app that can broadcast various events.
Right now, the most popular live-streaming apps are Facebook Live, Livestream, YouTube Live, and Periscope.
Audio Streaming
The essence is the same, in audio streaming, users can listen to music without downloading it. One popular example is Spotify or Apple Music.
Video on Demand Streaming (VOD)
The VOD streaming apps make it possible for users to watch TV series and movies without needing to download them to their phones. One distinct feature that a user gets is the scheduling, reply, backwards, and pause options.
Some of the common VoD apps are Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Hotstar, Jio Cinema, and more.
No need to go for reinvention, just draw inspiration from the already present live streaming app on the market. Go through all these action steps and find out what you as a user want that these apps do not provide, and boom…you have an idea now.
The Must-Have Features in Your Live Streaming App
To build an MVP for a live streaming app, you should know about some basic features that should be in the live streaming app.
Sign up/Sign in: A simple registration page for the users to create their profile and log in to their app with their credentials.
Real-time (live) streaming: The app should provide real-time streaming capabilities that allow users to broadcast and view live video and audio content in high quality without any delay or buffering.
Chat functionality: Live streaming apps should have chat functionality that enables users to communicate with each other during live streams. This helps to increase engagement and create a sense of community among users.
User profiles: Users should be able to create profiles that allow them to personalize their experience, including following other users, subscribing to channels, and receiving notifications when their favorite streams go live.
Monetization options: Good live streaming apps should provide monetization options, such as in-app purchases, ad revenue sharing, and sponsorship deals, to help content creators monetize their streams and earn revenue.
Social media integration: Social media integration enables users to share their streams and interact with their followers across multiple platforms, which helps to increase the reach of the app and promote user engagement.
Analytics and metrics: The app should provide analytics and metrics that allow content creators to track their performance and gain insights into their audience, such as viewer demographics and engagement rates.
Push notifications: Push notifications keep users informed about new streams, updates, and other important events within the app, helping to increase user engagement and retention.
Privacy and security: The app should have robust privacy and security measures to protect user data and prevent unauthorized access to streams or user accounts.
These are just a few of the must-have features that any good live-streaming app should provide. Depending on the app’s focus and target audience, other features such as live polls, Q&A sessions, and virtual gifts may also be important to consider.
The Basics of Developing Live-streaming App
When it comes to live streaming app development, you can take various approaches and get creative as much as possible, but all live-streaming apps require some basic common technologies.
Before building a live-streaming app, it’s vital to identify and understand the technical aspects of the mobile broadcasting game.
To give prime functionality to your mobile live-streaming apps,m you have to have some knowledge about the video streaming APIs, live streaming SDKs, and the HTML5 video player.
Video Streaming API
A video streaming API (Application Programming Interface) is a software interface that enables developers to build video streaming functionality into their own applications or websites. By using a video streaming API, developers can leverage the video streaming infrastructure provided by the API provider and integrate it into their own platform without having to build the infrastructure from scratch.
There are many video streaming APIs available, each with its own features and capabilities. Some of the most popular video streaming APIs include AWS, the Wowza streaming engine, Vimeo, and Brightcove.
Live-streaming SDK
A live-streaming SDK (Software Development Kit) is a collection of software tools and resources that enable developers to add live-streaming functionality to their applications or websites. Live streaming SDKs provide a way to integrate live video and audio streaming capabilities into existing platforms without having to build the streaming infrastructure from scratch. Some of the popular live streaming SDKs available for developers are Agora.io, AWS elemental media live SDKs, and Firebase.
HTML5 Video Player
HTML5 video player is a web-based media player that is built using the HTML5 video element and JavaScript. It allows web developers to embed and play video content directly within a web page, without requiring any third-party plugins or software. The HTML5 video player is supported by most modern web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
The HTML5 video player provides several advantages over traditional video players that use plugins such as Adobe Flash. Firstly, it provides a native video playback experience without requiring a plugin, which can improve performance and reduce security vulnerabilities. Secondly, it is compatible with a wide range of devices, including desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets, making it a versatile solution for video playback across multiple devices. Thirdly, it provides developers with more control over the video playback experience, including the ability to customize the video controls and add captions or subtitles to the video.
HTML5 video player also supports multiple video formats, including MP4, WebM, and Ogg. This means that developers can encode their videos in different formats to ensure compatibility with different browsers and devices.
How To Build Live Streaming App With Extern Labs
Let’s get to the main point of how to develop a live-streaming app. Extern Labs follows 6 steps in the process of building a live-streaming app. These steps make the complex live-streaming app development process a little more sorted and well-planned.
Here are six basic steps to get you started:
Plan the features and functionality: Determine the features and functionality of your live streaming app. Consider factors such as the type of content users will be streaming, the target audience, and the type of device on which the app will be used.
Choose a development platform: Choose the platform and tools you’ll use to develop your app. There are a variety of options available, including native app development (iOS, Android), hybrid app development, and web app development.
Build a user-friendly interface: Design an intuitive and user-friendly interface (UI/UX) for your app. This includes the layout, colour scheme, fonts, and other design elements that will make the app easy to use and visually appealing.
Integrate streaming functionality: Integrate the necessary streaming functionality, such as real-time video and audio streaming, chat, and social sharing capabilities. You may also need to integrate other features such as user profiles, notifications, and monetization options.
Test and refine the app: Test the app thoroughly to identify and fix any bugs, errors, or issues that may arise. Refine the app based on user feedback and testing results to improve its performance and usability.
Launch and promote the app: Launch the app on your chosen platform(s) and promote it to your target audience. Use marketing and advertising strategies to raise awareness of the app and encourage users to download and use it.
Developing a live streaming app requires a strong understanding of both the technical and user experience aspects of app development. It may be helpful to work with experienced developers or a development team to ensure your app meets your goals and user needs.
Final Thoughts
Now that you have better knowledge about the live streaming app and its development process, it’s just time to build one and step into this market.
It is an industry with a delicate balance between business goals and user experience.
However, you will need an experienced streaming app developer to guide you.
Talk to our team of developers and learn more about how we develop fully functional live-streaming apps.
