The VoD or on-demand video streaming application has taken the entertainment experience to an instance where we can’t think about a day without watching episodes of our favorite shows on Netflix. It has brought new types of content of different genres, giving us a taste of diverse cultures, thoughts, situations, and periods.
A ripple effect of this is that it not only succeeded in making its presence in 190 countries, gaining 148M Paid subscribers, and driving 26.6% of video streaming traffic, but also received massive attention from Entrepreneurs looking ahead to enter this space.
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Overview of App like netflix
Since the world has almost shut down due to pandemics, the usage of online video streaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu has increased tremendously. The NPD Group says the weekly usage of Netflix rose to 72% in the United States since Covid-19. Moreover, in April, Netflix reported the addition of a record of 15.77 million paid subscribers globally in the first quarter which is double the new subscribers it expected. Due to this growth in popularity, video streaming app development services have become a highly competitive industry segment. Let’s first see what ‘Streaming’ means and what video streaming apps do?
Streaming refers to a method of continuous transmission of audio or video files from a server to a client. Streaming is what happens when users watch TV or listen to podcasts on devices. It is real-time and is different from downloading. Video streaming apps basically stream video files from the server and also allow you to download videos on your local device.
Features to introduce in your Netflix-like app
Netflix gained huge success because of its content algorithm that repurposes content based on the interests of users. Not only this, the app offers importance on the ease of usability. So, before running into how to start a streaming service like Netflix, let’s understand what features you must introduce to your Netflix-clone app.
1. User registration and profile management
The essential features to focus upon while Netflix-like entertainment app development is user registration and profile management.
When it comes to easy sign-up and profile management, minimizing the requested details in the form is not enough. You should introduce the functionality of social media integration or SSO verification as it improves the app user retention rate.
2. Search Content
Being a platform offering thousands of video content, it is imperative to consider the features of search and filter.
With this feature, users will be able to search for their favourite shows and movies based on different criteria like genre, language, country of production, etc.
3. Payment gateway
With data security and privacy gaining huge momentum in the marketplace, looking ahead to payment gateway integration is a profitable method. When you provide users with the opportunity to pay via different payment options that are fast, it reduces the bounce rate on the app or website.
4. Watchlist
A watchlist is also one of the prominent features to consider when you decide to develop a video streaming application.
It is the section where the users add programs that they wish to watch later. It cuts down their efforts of searching for the same TV show or series again and positively influences the app user retention rate.
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5. Social features
Users these days love to share anything and everything on Social networking sites. Adding the social feature to your Netflix-like app is again profitable in such a scenario.
Adding social features also helps marketing the trending or newly released video content. So, look ahead to it.
6. Screen mirroring or screencasting
You must include a screencasting feature that enables viewing the video on your app on other screens like a TV or Laptop with the help of a Wi-fi connection. There are two ways to implement this feature. Let us look at both of them –
Google Cast SDK –
- The SDK has become an essential part of creating a streaming app for Android that is designed and developed to support the Chromecast feature.
- The API functionality allows developers to extend their iOS, Android, or even Chrome apps to stream the audio and video content onto a TV set, empowering your app to become a remote control to manage the playback functionality like play, pause, seek, rewind, etc.
- AirPlay – The second method enables the screen mirroring option with the AirPlay Protocol Stack. It allows streaming works between devices of video, audio, device screens, photos with Apple TV, and the linked iOS apps. Currently, Apple Inc. has licensed the protocol stack for video streaming app development companies that build products compatible with Apple’s devices.
7. Multi-language support
Last but not least, app localization, a.k .a. extending your content language beyond English, is another must-have feature of Netflix-clone apps.
This feature enables your mobile streaming app to reach more excellent demographics and flourish your business besides the geographical boundaries on which your app is based.
The above Netflix app features made the application a worldwide success. There’s no denying it. However, the app’s user experience made users pick Netflix over other top video streaming apps.
Forecast of Video-on-Demand users worldwide 2017 and 2025
To create your own Netflix-like app, you not only require development but also need to consider various vital pointers and follow several steps through the whole process. A few of the steps are stated below:
How to create a video streaming app like Netflix?
1. Find Your Niche
Your prime objective is to find the type of content that you want to stream on your video-streaming app. You can explore various content types and make them available to your audience. Here, we have researched the different types of content and segmented them into categories.
Here are a few of them:
- Entertainment
Entertainment is the most common type of content involving various genres like comedy, thriller, action, etc. The entertainment content types are highly profitable as they target a more extensive audience base, and people always love to watch something new.
- Fitness
One likely niche to follow and develop a live-streaming app for is fitness. People love staying fit and creating routines that follow their daily schedule. Users only think a little before paying a subscription fee for an on-demand fitness video streaming service. Furthermore, to experience more conversions to your app, try including various fitness features like Zumba, yoga, diet conditioning, etc.
- Education
Considering the current trend, people are more likely to watch “how-to” videos than to read long-form content for solutions. You can develop an informational live-streaming app for people of different ages keen to learn something new. Creating a streaming app for the educational niche will reap considerable benefits in the long run.
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2. Choose your content availability.
Since the content is the core of your VoD app, you need to fixate the content. Answer to yourself the following questions:
- Would you use videos from other distribution channels?
- Would you build a live-streaming app?
If we suggest, for entertainment, building partnerships contracts with media houses for various content. You can do both for education and fitness needs- setting up your own content media house or contacting other media houses.
3. Choose the monetization model
Earning money is the prime objective of developing a live-streaming app. So, choose your monetization model wisely. You can look into the monetization models below for assistance.
Pay per view
The most known and tested pricing screen is where customers pay for every video they watch. If your goal is diving into broadcast live streaming, trade shows, sports events, and more, you can go for this model.
Advertising
The advertising model is simple: You charge other companies to use your platform to display their advertisements. It’s like providing media buyers space to run app promotions. This monetization strategy derives fruitful results if you have a vast audience base.
Subscription
As you remember, most entertainment-based video streaming service providers are running subscription-based models. Subscribers are given a monthly fee to receive access to an unlimited content library. You can use this model if you regularly release new content on your video streaming app.
4. Know your requirements
As you are done with significant planning, it’s time to dive into the first stage of development. You need to understand your video streaming app requirements. Below are a few corresponding factors that you can consider for your app:
Internet speed
Internet speed impacts the app’s ability to stream the on-demand content. The minimum internet speed required to stream standard-definition movies is over 2MB per second. You need to understand the required internet speed to stream quality content in your app.
Security
Security is a prime concern; no user wants their data to be accessed by unauthorized persons. You need to consider content and information security across customer devices. We recommend choosing operations like network background, token security, domain restriction, and watermarking for best security measures.
Payment gateway
It helps you decide what payment gateway to integrate to make easy, secure, and traceable payments. There are various popular payment solutions available to choose from, like Stripe, 2CheckOut, PayPal, and more.
Subscription logs
It is highly recommended to track and manage the subscription logs for your app. While developing a video streaming app, your users will increase over time, and it will take a lot of work to manually control each user’s data. The subscription logs feature integration will help determine the video quality, view streaming data information, and the number of screens you are logged in.
5. UI/UX Design
The UI/UX design makes Netflix a user’s first choice. The UI/UX designers at Netflix have created a unique way of content promotion. A preview section of the home page plays small clips of a series or a movie that help users decide whether to invest their time.
6. Gather feedback
Now that you have created your MVP, it is necessary to validate your MVP with diverse methods. You need to gather feedback from a group of people known as early adopters. Ensure you understand the pain points and the essential features required for the app. Testing your MVP in real-time will help understand users’ reactions and identification of the scope of improvement.
Transforming your ideas into captivating digital experiences, one app at a time.
Cost to develop a streaming app like Netflix.
As mentioned in our mobile app development cost guide, the budget required to build an application similar to Netflix is not fixed. Various factors affect the cost of creating mobile streaming apps like Netflix, such as:
Platform
The cost of video-streaming apps would rise in ascending order as you move from one platform, say Android and iOS or both, and they would be higher when you add the web into the mix.
Features and Tech Stack
Depending on the combination of app features you integrate into your app, there’s a variation in the video streaming app development cost.
- Simple – User registration feature, payment gateway, video gallery elements, social media integration, video player, search feature, and settings profile.
- Medium – The medium version features + app localization, subtitles feature, and advanced video player integration.
- Complex – Besides the features mentioned above – User profiles, the ability to search for friends, chat, reviews, and comments.
The Geographical location of hired app developers
The average per-hour cost demanded by a video streaming app development company varies from East to West. While in Western nations like the US or Australia, the average hourly rate ranges from $80 to $200, in Eastern countries like India, the cost is around $25 to $80.
So, the right way to know the exact cost to develop a streaming app like Netflix is by consulting an on-demand app developer and discussing it with them.
The on-demand video streaming apps like Netflix are backed by numerous frontend and backend technologies, a glimpse of which you can get from the next section of the article.
Technology stack for developing video streaming apps like Netflix
It’s necessary to understand the technology stack needed for developing video streaming apps like Netflix before getting into development. Below are the details of the tech stack segmented according to various aspects like applications and data, utilities, DevOps, and business tools.
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Conclusion
Creating an app like Netflix requires a lot of planning, research, and development. The steps mentioned above can help you get started with building your app. However, it’s essential to remember that building a successful app requires continuous updates and improvements based on user feedback and market demand. With the right approach, tools, and expertise, you can create an app that can compete with the best in the market.
FAQs
What is a video streaming app's average MVP development cost?
The average MVP development cost varies depending on the features you want to include in your MVP. However, the average number of hours required to develop a minimum viable product for a Netflix-like app will take 300-500 hours.
What are the critical parameters that must be checked to gauge the success of the app?
The two most key parameters you need to measure are:
Customer Acquisition Cost: This metric tells you the cost of acquiring a new subscriber to your app. You can calculate this by picking a specific period and dividing it by the cost of marketing of that period.
Retention Rate: This metric measures the percentage of active subscribers and those who have stopped using the services over a specified period. To calculate the retention rate, subtract the new subscribers at the end of the season and divide it by the number of subscribers you started within the season.
