Cost and Features to Develop a Mobile App like TikTok/Likee/Vigo Video

Introduction

“We are living in an era wherein if you are not active on social media then you don’t exist.”

In the past one decade, it has changed the business and marketing structure of the global market. Social video networks have become a rage in the recent time as these applications attract a lot of users. People want to showcase their talent, such as acting, lip-syncing, dancing, singing, etc. So, these social video networks are providing a platform to exhibit their talent. 

What is the Application TikTok all about?

TikTok is a video platform that provides a stage to its customers so that they can make and share their own videos to a wide audience across the world.

TikTok app also allows the followers to upload films and movie content. Once the videos are shot, the videos can be edited on the same platform as the application offers a wide variety of editing effects, creative filters etc.

It is a video sharing app like Tiktok/Vigo Video that has become a rage and created a niche for itself among other likewise entertainment applications.

Tik Tok has a following of millions of users across the globe and the number is increasing each passing day. These users hang out on this app for hours each day watching and creating their own content. In a short span of time tik tok has made a loyal fanbase who regularly spends time on this platform.

Market Overview

• TikTok has around 500 million month to month dynamic clients from every corner of the world.
• Tik Tok has been Positioned as the most frequently downloaded application in the App Store for the opening quarter of 2019 with a whopping 33 million new followers.
• As suggested by the most recent researches and authentic resources, TikTok is more common among men than ladies. The stats suggest that 56% of tik tok followers are male followers and 44% are female users.
• On an average tik tok users spend approximately 52 minutes  each day on the TikTok.
• As per a research done by Apptrace TikTok is accessible in 155 nations.
• Since its launch in September 2016, the application now has more than 800 million active users around the globe. With this, the application now holds 9th position in the social networking platform betting the well-known applications like Snapchat, Twitter, Linkedin.

• During the lockdown tenure, the number of downloads of the application has increased tremendously reaching beyond 1 billion and 1.5 billion on Apple store and Google play store respectively this year.
•  As per the report shared by GlobalWebIndex states that teenagers are the major contributors in the success of the application. Out of total users, 41% are the age group that falls in between 16 to 24.
• The daily spent time duration on the application is around 52 minutes per day by every individual.
•  As per AppTrace, TikTok hopped from 269th to fourth in worldwide application download rank in February 2019. It has stayed in the main 20 since (as of February 2020), and right now sits in the fourth position.
• Sensor Tower details uncover TikTok was downloaded more than 738 million times universally in 2019. This is a noteworthy increment on the 655 million downloads recorded in 2018. The number of downloads crossed the 1.5 billion edge in November 2019. 
• TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2020 and 2021 and peaked at 318 million downloads in Q1 2020, a record for quarterly downloads outside of China.

Monetization Methods

Choose the right business model:

Now that you know your potential users, you can choose the appropriate business model for app monetization among the below options:

Fundraising:

In the preliminary phase of your project, you can entice the investors with fundraising, i.e. accumulating funds as donations from independent investors and businesses.

In-app purchase:

TikTok allows its followers to support live broadcasters with electronic cash, sold with actual currency. Users can always switch digital foreign currency or real cash for gifts.

Advertising:

This app monetization model option comprises the following in-app marketing types:

• Cost Per Click charged every time the user interacts with the featured commercials in their app.
• Cost Per Mille billed advertisers for every 1,000 impressions of their commercials running the app.
• Cost Per Activity when advertisers pay just for the specific action, such as an app deploy or journal signup.

What are the features that made Tik Tok Successful?

One of the most prolific feature of TikTok is it allows its followers to connect with each other by following, liking, commenting and also re-sharing the creative content which eventually makes the popular. It also provides users with additional features, including:

Video uploading:

Tik Tok users can change the color of the eyes, hair, and even different makeup options. There is a wide collection of different stickers,  animated options and different masks.

Live streaming:

If one chooses this premium TikTok feature, then one will be able to make stay streams and is entitled to get the virtual gifts from their fans and followers who bought these with Tik Tok currency.

Social sharing:

TikTok customers can make their tik tok content viral by sharing it on their other social networking platforms like Facebook profiles and Instagram , YouTube etc

Soundtracks:

The users can add music pieces to their own videos from the existing TikTok music collection.

QR code scanner:

To allow users to follow and connect with each other, the  app provides a distinctive QR code.

Duet Option:

For those users, who love singing, make the most of this feature. Users can shoot a video, upload the same video with #duetwithme hashtag, and request fellow users to sing a duet with them.

Geolocation:

By using the geolocation feature, the app shows the ongoing lively bloggers broadcasting live, close by, at that specific time.

What are the Minimum Viable Product Development Features for an application like Tik Tok

Developing an MVP (minimum viable product) before unveiling your app in full is very important for the application’s success.

It actually permits you to have a trial run of your app and receive key feedback and review from the users. By following this approach, you can always modify or fix the issues if there are any and confirm that your app is completely functional once you decide to officially launch it.

Basic UI:

The user interface of TikTok is quite simple. All one has to do is swipe down to move to the next video. There are a lot of other features available to use like the speed-up function or the slow down function. Users can easily identify the search button and go ahead and fun TikTok challenges, it’s pretty basic and user friendly.

Profile Edit:

It is also a basic feature so that the users can always make their profiles by uploading pictures, name, password, date of birth, gender etc.

Sign Up and Login:

This is one of the most primary features which is important to get the basic information of the users. Users would have to sign up in order to post the content. It’s always wiser to offer several different options for sign up, e.g. email, social network, and phone numb etc.

Notifications:

More notifications lead to higher user interaction with the application. Notifications are one of the key ways to keep the users engaged. The users get instant notification, whenever any other user follows, like, view, comment or share their video.

Not just that, TikTok does prompt and notify the users with several ongoing activities, trends, and competitions to assure that users stay invested and connected.

Videos transfer:

Well, TikTok’s is a big success today and the primary reason of TikTok’s popularity is its videos. It’s very important to facilitate the users with a simple and quicker way to post their videos.hence its always recommended to keep the interface user friendly.

Uploading Videos:

The prominent reason for TikTok’s popularity is the videos. You get the option either to create a new video using the camera or you can use an existing video either from data card or t card or camera roll. So, record and roll!

Filters and Effects:

TikTok has a wide variety of filters and special effects which one can add to the video and make it exceptionally unique. Hence, it’s always suggested to include such a feature in the application. By doing the same, one can entice more users by providing them unique and interesting filters.

Hearts and Comments:

What keeps the videos going in the hearts and comments. Just like any other apps such as Vigo Video, Likee, Musically, TikTok also allows users to like and comment on the videos. The hearts indicate how much the video is liked and appreciated by the users.

Sharing:

Another wonderful feature of the TikTok app is one can share the video on different social networks . When one actually likes a video or feels that it needs to be shared, one can go there and then share the video on several social media platforms. Sharing is an amazing way to attract more followers and gain popularity.

Live Videos:

Well, an interesting feature of TikTok is you can engage with your audience in real-time using live video options. People can directly comment and interact with the users they wish on their live videos. The company has recently added this feature to engage user engagement and gain more popularity.

Video editing:

Users should be given an option to edit or modify the video on the application itself . There could be a couple of primary options like flipping the video, increasing/decreasing the pace of the video and more. One more option could be added like turn on the beauty mode, what it does is it just makes the video visually more appealing.

Administrator Panel:

Admin panel renders an interface with important and key functions like user management where one can always add, block or delete users. Also, it plays an important role in counting number posts of a user.

Advanced Features for Tik Tok like App

The above-discussed features were the basic features to start with, However, it goes without saying that higher the number of customers you have, the more exciting, unique and advanced features your application should have.

There are a couple of  TikTok advanced features listed below which one can plan to include if one wants to develop an app like TikTok or Likee App.

Video preview before the registration:

TikTok let the users watch or go through a few popular videos before signing up. So that users can just have a look at the existing content. But, for commenting or liking a video, it’s mandatory to sign up.

Location-based content:

It is one of the latest features that one can think to include while planning to introduce an app like TikTok. The feature allows locating the device. So going this location data, the application provides content published by other users with the same geographical location. Moreover , if the users want they can share their current whereabouts to the video too.

Real-time Analytics:

This function gives a way to check the live audiences and broadcasters in the graphical representation . It also shows the data for the number of comments and hearts too.

Live video streaming:

After a while you have got a winner, So TikTok doesn’t have this feature u . Though, there is a strong buzz going on among other social video apps to include a live video feature soon.

AR filters:

Nowadays there are number of advanced reality filters that can alter the hair or eye color, add different props over head (e.g. Cat’s ears, Crown), and more. This technology is quite a rage these days among the teenagers and kids. So, it’s a great idea to have this technology in the application.

Notifications:

More notifications lead to higher user interaction with the application. Notifications are one of the key ways to keep the users engaged. The users get instant notification, whenever any other user follow, like, view, comment or share their video.

Not just that, TikTok does prompt and notify the users with several ongoing activities, trends, and competitions to assure that users stay invested and connected.

Videos transfer:

Well, TikTok’s is a big success today and the primary reason of Tik Tok’s popularity is its videos. It’s very important to facilitate the users with a simple and quicker way to post their videos. Hence its always recommended to keep the interface user friendly.

Hashtags and Challenges:

Movie Stars, Celebrated Personalities and Influencers usually offer new to do tasks and challenges to users in the form of dance moves, fun activities, and the likes.

Users go ahead and recreate them on their feed. This is one of the most popular ways to attract the users and it should be an integral part of your app, too.

Reactions:

Every TikTok user can just go ahead and record their expressions or reactions to the videos which are being posted by other TikTok users.

This option allows them to record themselves at the time when they are watching that video which was posted by other user, and later they just publish it in the app with their recorded reaction. They can modify and resize the recording window in real-time while watching the clip.

Admin Panel Features:

Admin panel of the application like TikTok will permit the administrator to control  the given tasks – user management, content management, notification management, manage the flagged videos, and handling reports.

Soundtracks:

The users can add music pieces to their own videos from the existing TikTok music collection.

QR code scanner:

To allow users to follow and connect with each other, the  app provides a distinctive QR code.

Duet Option:

For those users, who love singing, make the most of this feature. Users can shoot a video, upload the same video with #duetwithme hashtag, and request fellow users to sing a duet with them.

Live streaming:

If one chooses this premium TikTok feature, then one will be able to make stay streams and is entitled to get the virtual gifts from their fans and followers who bought these with Tik Tok currency.

Tech Stack of TikTok App

When one is planning to build an application which is as potent as TikTok, it’s always a fruitful practice to learn and comprehend what it’s tech stack is,Once you are aware of it then you can flex or tone down the stack and make it more fitting to suit your budget and needs. Though, The tech stack of TikTok comprises :

• Swift for iOS app development
• Kotlin for Android app development
• Cloud architecture powered by Amazon Web Services and Azure
• JS for backend development
• Database management by SQL, MongoDB or Cassandra
• Azure Stream Analytics for real-time analytics
• Notifications backed by Google Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notifications

Factors That Affect the Cost of App Development

The app as good as TikTok for Android and iOS platforms will have a number of factors that will eventually affect costs.

Below are the major cost affecting factors for an application like TikTok :

• Platforms: If one plans to target both the mobile platforms iOS and android it will definitely increase the cost.
• Design: Design is one of the most important features of an app and better the design higher will be the cost.
• Advanced features: As they say” change is the only constant” it is true here as well, every now and then we get to see new features and updates offered by various applications, so in order to stay relevant among the competitors one has to include the latest features and the more features you add it increases the cost.

Other Expenses:

There are other costs too like Number of hours taken to create the app, the cost of the latest tools and technologies to make an advanced and unique app for users.

If we include all these factors and aspects in mind, the approximate cost of developing a Music streaming app like TikTok cost around $35000 to $45000, it is a ball park figure so it definitely varies based on user demands, market demands, and location of the company as well.