TikTok is a social media app developed by a Chinese company named ByteDance Technology Co Ltd. This app was started in 2016 to let users create and share short videos. Now, TikTok is the most famous musical app in the world and has more than 500 million users. It is accessible in 75 languages and is available for both iOS and Android platforms. After China, ByteDance launched TikTok for the global market in 2017 and also targeted the US teenage market for this app. This app has tremendous popularity globally and ranks #1 between free mobile app downloads on app stores. It enables users to create small music videos of span 3-15 seconds and small looping videos of 3-60 seconds. Users can also edit the videos with animations, sounds, filters, etc.

People often share videos on Facebook and when we open our Facebook or Instagram account, we can see many of TikTok popping up on the screen. This tells the popularity of social video apps among the audience. There are many music apps like TikTok but still, TikTok is #1. This article provides tips to design and develop an app like TikTok.

Features and Functionality  of this App

  1. UI: As a thumb rule to design any app, the user interface should be manageable so that users are comfortable to do a lot from the app. The app can start immediately with a famous video and let users choose the “For You” tab.
  2. Hashtags and Live-Ops: Usually hashtags are recommended by the app itself. These are used by video creators for what the video is about. The app takes care that the content is recent and relevant. Live-Ops are essential as they are improvements to user experience and help to keep app users feel fresh and full of activity.
  3. Sharing Options: Users can attach social media account in the app which allows them to share their videos and profile on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, etc. Through this approach, the users can also improve their followers via the app.
  4. Effects & Music Library: There is a lot of music available in the music library for the watchers. The special effects feature allows users to pick the desired background music and quickly make fabulous clips.
  5. Real-Time Analytics: This feature permits admin to examine the live audience and graphically view the broadcasts i.e. real-time insights of the app usage and connection with the past data which assists in further decision making.
  6. Geolocation: This is an excellent feature that you can use in the video streaming app. Users can see broadcasts according to their region and select the desired broadcasts to follow from the map itself. For this, an app developer requires to mark markers in the map in a range neighboring user’s current location to show the live broadcast in that area. The live & inactive broadcasts should be shown in separate colors.
  7. Notifications: These allow users to get informed of live events even if they are not on the app at that time. App developers can also include recording future broadcasts in the app to make it more interactive.

Technologies used

Cloud Storage: The cloud environment is AWS. The selection of servers is very essential for the app as it should be able to efficiently manage thousands of requests per second. So a cloud storage service like Azure, Google Cloud Storage, and Amazon S3 can be used. The server also needs to be configured to support all the major devices.

Since video streaming is the essential purpose of this app, it should be assured to keep the mobile app light and you always stream from an external server. The broadcasting stream stays on user device till the time the user is viewing and after that, it is deleted automatically from the server-side. It is suggested that the app must also have a choice to save videos in the external storage of the user’s phone.

Content Delivery Networks (CDSs): Use highly scalable CDN services for protected media streaming. Video/Audio transcoding of media files requires to be done in various media formats so that they are supported on all significant browsers and devices.

Development team:

It is important to have an expert team of mobile app developers who can develop an excellent app like TikTok. For this the necessary team structure should be:

One project manager, Android & iOS developers, & UI/UX Designer. When the app is ready, it needs to be well-tested by quality analysts. You should ensure that the app is safe and secure.

Cost of App development

There are several other apps like TikTok but TikTok is the best and the fastest evolving apps around the globe. Some examples of such apps are Dubsmash, Triller, Vigo, etc. The cost of developing such an app having a smooth UX/UI finish depends upon factors like growing region, the necessity of resources, & the development cost per hour. In the US & Europe, the development cost would be much more expensive than in Asia. In India, the app development cost would be around $25000 for a single platform but for multiple platforms, this cost would be around $35000-$40000.

Earnings from App

Of course, you expect a great business after putting so much effort into developing a TikTik like the app. Here are some of the ways by which you can make money for this app.

1) In-app purchase

Your app is available free to download and use from Google play store or apple store. There is a skill that you can impose a nominal amount from app users to enhance the app to the premium version or to unlock some of the features.

2) Investor funding

Remain in contact with some of the inherent investors to get investment for your app. This is a very useful way of earning money and even the TikTok app development company received funds of $100 million from high-profile investors.

3) Selling the app

When your app gets famous amongst the targeted users then you can easily sell the app to potential entrepreneurs or corporates. Go ahead with the deal that is most suitable for your business.

4) Advertisement

You can also earn by advertising ads on your mobile app. The advertisements should be targeted to the audience according to age groups, region, and things most liked by a particular community, etc. Advertising can be of many types like cost per click, cost per install, etc.

Conclusion-

Now you know how to design & develop an app like Tiktok. You are also well-known with the ways of making money from such an app. So, try to be one of the reputed names in the field of media app development with the launch of your app.