Television has become a bygone with the introduction of On-demand video streaming apps. These are attractive to the users as they can have complete control over the videos and can watch shows and videos of their favorite content without any interruptions. A lot of people have already lost interest in the big black box and are slowly turning towards the online platform to watch their shows, series, movies, etc.
The video streaming mobile apps have also witnessed a huge spike in the number of apps that are now available for downloads in the app stores. Catering to the needs of the users, these apps have a lot of content for them to choose from and save it to watch later. So, today you will get to learn all about video streaming app development and the cost of app development.
What is On-Demand Video Streaming App
Before we learn how to develop video streaming mobile app development, let’s learn what in On-demand video streaming?
A VOD (Video On Demand) mobile app is a system, which allows the users to select a movie, TV series, and web series of their choice and view it at any given time. All you have to do is either plug in your device like TV or laptop and start viewing anything of your choice. All you have to do is install any one of the video streaming apps and subscribe to them.
OTT/VOD Vs TV
VOD platforms have carved a way for people to offer video content to the users. This new introduction in the world of videos has affected traditional television in a lot of ways. Take a look at some differences between the two:
- A traditional television requires the users to get a D2H cable set up the connection, and the user has to have a television to set it up. Also, the extra cost is incurred on getting the cable connection for your device, on the other hand, on-demand video streaming app only requires a fast-paced internet connection.
- In the case of traditional television, a viewer can’t view shows and movies according to his choice but watch only the content that the cable of D2H provider is providing at various schedules. On the other hand, in the case of video on demand, the user can directly login to his account and get access to an endless number of videos. He can choose to watch anyone from the available videos at any point in time.
- Traditional television does not offer as much variety as VODs. One has to watch the movies and shows offered by the cable provider, whereas, you can choose from a wide range of genres like horror, romance, thriller, action, etc. to choose from when we talk about VOD.
- A D2H can only be accessed from traditional television and can not be used on any other device. However, in the case of VOD, one can access any app from any device such as phone, ipad, computers, etc. Therefore, VOD’s are more convenient than traditional television.
How the internet and mobile revolution has propelled VOD industry
Internet and mobile phones go hand in hand. Over the years, the industry has grown to a great extent as almost every person nowadays owns a smartphone and has access to the internet.
The growth of mobile phones sale has tremendously increased and people tend to look up for interesting videos in their free time. It is a lot of creative content available online and people are glued to their screens while watching these videos. They have their own accounts on the video apps and can access any video at any time.
If you think watching these videos will cost you a bomb because of the money and time spent on the internet, then you have a wrong notion. These videos can be watched at a cheap bandwidth and you wouldn’t have to incur many costs on it.
With a growth in the demand for mobile phones, the need for internet connection is also growing. Internet companies are setting up their offices and networks in remote areas as well for better connectivity and fast speed.
What Are The Differences Between OTT and VOD
Over The Top (OTT) are the online channels or apps that have a library consisting of all shows and videos. Two examples of OTT are Netflix and Hulu.
Video on Demand (VOD) are platforms offering a wide variety of choices from between web series, movies, and TV series. YouTube and Amazon Prime are some of its examples.
Now let’s take a look at some differences between the two:
- OTT is a subset of the VOD. The former is conveyed to the user with the help of the internet.
- Users have to pay for the channels they subscribe to VOD, while access to OTT is free of cost.
- VOD is known for giving the users access to unlimited videos and shows which is a restraint in the case of OTT.
- It is beneficial to watch videos on OTT, rather than downloading and watching any video. More content can be available from OTT, than downloading the same videos by downloading them from some online platform.
Why Invest in Video Streaming Mobile App Development – Market & Stats
The on-demand video streaming apps have become the new trend. With an increase in internet bandwidth and the rising demand, these apps are witnessing an incomparable growth. Currently, 51 percent of homes in the United States of America are using this platform and almost 100 minutes are spent on these videos in a day. Talking about the number of users of such apps in the country, almost 182 million people have subscribed to such video services in the year 2019.
Take a look at some statistics of video streaming mobile apps:
- The industry of live streaming will grow up to $70.50 billion by the year 2021.
- As per the predictions made, the revenue generated by OTT will go to an extent of $129 billion by the end of the year 2023.
- The Interactive Advertising Bureau conducted a survey which revealed that 47 percent of the viewers watched live videos rather than watching old and recorded videos.
- Talking about the money spent on creative video content, more than $90 billion was spent on it in 2018. It is expected that the figures will rise up to $100 billion by the end of 2023.
- The recent estimates of eMarketer suggest that there has been a reasonable rise in the time spent by users in consuming video content. It has gone up from 83 minutes to 92 minutes in 2020.
The estimates and the figures mentioned above, in the statistics, reveal there is a rise in the industry. This has given way to new opportunities and people can think of investing in making such apps. This entertainment media industry is going to be the next big thing on phones and other devices. It is beneficial for people to make a handsome investment in the field to generate a fair deal of revenue in return.
Forecast of Video-on-Demand users worldwide 2017 – 2025
Revenue in the Video-on-Demand segment is projected to reach US$60,984m in 2020
Also read: Coronavirus Lockdown & Its Impact On The Video Streaming Industry
Monetization Models and Opportunities for Video Streaming Apps
This platform is a growing one and has good future prospects. The platform is definite to give a good amount of return on investment and carve new opportunities to the service providers. Take a look at how these apps make money:
1. SVOD
The full form is Subscription Video on Demand. This means that the users who want to access the videos on a platform will have to pay for the subscription of the app and then pay monthly to watch these videos.
2. TVOD
It means Transactional Video on Demand and is totally different from SVOD. In this case, the users do not have to buy a subscription, but they will have to make payments according to the number of videos they want to watch. This is a beneficial plan for the users as they pay only for the videos they watch.
3. AVOD
Entirely free for the use of videos these Ads Supported Video on Demand Videos provide are ad centric.
4. Featured Listing
The new content launched on the platform can be promoted via small clips of the video to attract the users. These clips should be intriguing to develop the interest of the users and should be available only to the users who are premium account holders.
5. Ad Management
Like almost all other platforms, this one too derives a reasonable amount of revenue from advertisements. By selling its space on homepages and on the pages with the most liked content can help them earn good returns. Also, monetization through apps can be done with the ads displayed on content that has maximum user engagement and downloads.
VOD or Video Streaming App Business Model Canvas
Top Players in the On-Demand Video Streaming App Industry
There has been an increasing rise in online video streaming apps. Before moving forward to video streaming app development take a look at some of the most popular video streaming apps worldwide:
Amazon
The Amazon Prime mobile app is one of the most popular video streaming apps which is also doing well on the web. This allows users to get access to all video content available. Users can either take a monthly subscription, or an annual subscription at a nominal price. The users also get an Amazon prime access on its retail site.
Netflix
The on-demand video streaming app has an amalgamation of popular shows, movies, Netflix original films, tv shows, and more. A subscription allows the users to watch the end number of shows without any interruptions like advertisements or any other promotional videos. Reportedly, the video platform is soon going to launch an offline version, allowing the users to access the content even when not connected to the internet.
HBO Now
Operated by the popular American network HBO, this one is again an on-demand service provider. Users can get access to the original content produced and marketed by HBO on this app.
HULU
Apart from offering original content produced by the video service provider, HULU gives free access to the users of shows that have been aired the previous day. They generate revenue through subscriptions, that allows the users to stay ahead of the others by watching the shows that are currently being aired.
YouTube
One of the most popular video streaming platforms which is installed on almost all phones. This allows people to create their channels and post their content online. Anyone, from any part of the world, can showcase their work here and get feedback or reviews for their video content. YouTube recently launched a premium that allowed users to access and listen to the audio even when the app is not in use but open in the background.
What are the general features of Video Streaming Mobile App
| USER PANEL | ADMIN PANEL |
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Advance Features of Video Streaming Application
1. Social Login & Signups
The app should integrate multiple choices for registration on the app. It should not be a tedious process of typing each detail of the users. Rather, making the process short, a user should be able to sign up through any one of his/her social media accounts. This short process helps in saving the user’s time and not letting him lose his patience over signing up.
2. User Onboarding
A video content service providing app should navigate its customer through the entire app, once the user signs up. It should explain each feature properly.
3. Behaviour Tracking
It is very important to know what content is of interest to the user. According to his searches which are saved in the back end, the app should push recommendations that will generate interest in them. This helps in the promotion of content and getting more views from the users.
4. Bitrate (Streaming Quality)
The service providers should ensure high video quality to the users with the required bandwidth. The app should be able to decide the quality of the video itself, depending on the network connection of a device.
5. Recommendation Algorithm (AI)
With the help of ranking and reviews collected by the users, these platforms filter the content that is being pushed to any user’s screen.
6. Role based Dashboards
This helps in building different marketing strategies. The admin can get an insight into the real-time statistics of the behavior of the users. It can be monitored through the app.
7. Realtime Analytics
This basically means that the admin gets real-time statistics in the form of pie charts, reports, and dashboards on the admin panel. They can get information on the live shows being run at a certain point in time and the retention numbers. This helps the admin strategize plans and market their content accordingly.
8. In-App Voice Assistance
This works like Siri on iPhone and helps in making things easier and convenient for the users. This enables them to speak out a command which is received by the in-app assistance, who does work on your behalf without you having to even touch the device.
9. Push Notification
A user should be intimidated about any updates on their most liked video content. This offers a seamless and more transparent experience to the users.
10. CRM Integration
Customer Relationship Management is important for any application and any organization. The users can talk to their relationship managers and provide their feedback on the app. This helps the app developers enhance the user experience.
11. Loyalty Program
Want your users to be loyal to your app? Offer them reward points that will draw their attention to your app again and again. These referrals and reward programs should give them some sort of discount going forward. This will generate their interest in the app.
12. Digital Asset Management
One needs to store and organize their digital assets, and this feature lets the video streaming apps do that. Wondering what can be the assets of such a platform? Well, the videos that have restricted rights are the assets of the company. Other services provided by digital asset management include transformation, security, manipulation, etc.
13. Data Storage and Management
The video streaming apps have to archive the data and save them for future reference. Any broadcasting stream goes to the user’s device via the video provider’s server and gets deleted from the server once the user is done watching it. The server will then do the transmission after the conversion of the broadcast.
A look at the challenges faced by video streaming app and platforms
1. Scalability
It is important for any app to determine the number of users, irrespective of their numbers increasing. The back-end architecture should be scalable so that the numbers are calculated without any hassle.
2. Security
Video streaming apps might face plagiarism in content and people might steam content from their platform. Therefore, it is necessary for them to buy proper rights, access control, and encryption details of each video they put up on their app or website.
3. Flexibility
There are phones of different formats including iOS, Windows, and Android, along with several digital devices like tablets, laptops from which the users want to access a video. Therefore, the video providers should try to make a platform or an app which supports all devices and formats.
4. Storage of data on a large scale
It is comparatively expensive and slow. Even the bandwidth offered is quite intensive.
5. Live & On-Demand Video Streaming Apps
This is also a challenge as the infrastructure is expensive and the scope of reusability if is low.
6. Content Transcoding
It is another challenge as saving the larger data sets can be expensive as the procession of numerous jobs is done in different formats.
7. Content Distribution Analytics
A video streaming platform has to keep a track of its users through its analytics. However, these analytic reports lack details and are usually on the expensive side.
Tech stack required for the development of a video streaming app
Here is a basic list of technologies which will help be useful for video streaming app development
- Push Notifications – Twilio, Push.io
- SMS, Voice, and Phone Verification – Nexmo, Twilio
- Payments – Braintree & PayPal, Stripe, EWallets
- GWT – for Powerful Programming
- Datastax – for Data Management
- Mandrill – for everything related to emails
- Database – MongoDB, HBase, Cassandra, Postgress, Mail Chimp Integration
- Cloud Environment – AWS
- Real-time Analytics – Hadoop, Spark, BigData, Apache Flink, Cisco, IBM
- Streaming Media System – Wowza Streaming Engine, Nimble Streamer
Wowza is a great Choice Streaming Engine
In recent times, there has been tremendous growth in the viewership of streaming videos or live videos. With the availability of good bandwidth, users can enjoy a great deal of high-quality content from almost anywhere in the world. Take a look at the architecture of such apps using Wowza as a streaming engine.
Video Streaming Using AWS Element Cloud
Development Team Structure For VOD Application
Top mobile app development companies focus on providing a competitive video streaming app to the users, so as to influence the users and keep them loyal to the app. Therefore, a lot of hard and skilled work goes behind the development of these apps. While some might have to start from the scratch, some require updates and some add on while the app is in full function. One can either hire a team of professionals and pay them regularly along with the other staff of the company. They become permanent employees of the company and receive all benefits like paid leaves, gazetted holidays, insurance, and other celebrations in the office. These are full-time employees who get monthly salaries credited to their accounts. They are always there in the office and can be a source of immediate support. These employees are also accountable to take care of any updates in the app in the near future. Take a look at the team required for developing a video streaming app:
- Project Manager
- Front-end developers
- Backend developers
- Business analyst
- Android app developers
- iOS app developers
- Graphic designers
- Quality Analyst professionals
Another way of hiring professionals is by hiring them as freelancers. They work for a certain period of time and get paid either hourly or daily. Their work is to work on a project, develop it, and hand it over to the parent company. It is comparatively cheaper than full-time employees, but hiring freelancers for developing such complexed projects is not the right choice. One must hire an experienced mobile app development company to develop a video streaming application and backend architecture.
Also Read: How To Developing A Music Streaming App?
How Much Does It Cost To Develop An On-Demand Video Streaming App
Like all other apps, the cost of video streaming app development also depends upon its features, size, and complexities. Also, the reputation of VOD app development team which will be hired to develop the app will have their own charges, negotiable but depending upon the past experience of app development experts. Take a look at the charges based on countries:
- U.S. based developers – $50 to $250 per hour
- India based developers- $10 to $80 per hour
- Developers from eastern Europe – $30 to $150 per hour
An apps development cost will be estimated only after approximating the time spent by the professionals on Video streaming app development.
Conclusion
Get ahead of the rest by developing video streaming apps that are accessible and compatible with all platforms. With a rise in the demand for original video content online and on OTT’s, these apps have seen a sharp spike in downloads. A company looking forward to launching its own VOD app on the app stores should be well versed with the market trends of the video streaming industry in the world of apps.
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