Social apps have gained pace more than anything else in recent times, be it social media, video sharing, photo editing, or whatnot. With the rise of platforms where users constantly upload clear pictures online, visual content has become more crucial than ever. TikTok has been all over the news after a country completely banning its use, emptying the space for an opportunity of a lifetime. While the overall app is simple to use from a user’s perspective, planning and implementing it can be really tough as a business. Most mobile app development companies would promise you to create a TikTok clone, but only a few would focus on creating an app like TikTok which can handle users as per requirement.
ByteDance acquired musical.ly and merged it with TikTok to improve the app and that’s when it got mainstream. If you are wondering about implementing some more features from any of your other favorite apps, we will do that for you over and above the features of TikTok. We will further discuss the basic and advanced features you would get with the TikTok clone we create for you, along with the cost to get the web developed, customized, or only the source code. When you hire iOS developer or hire Android developers from us, you would not only get a quality app, but also a team capable of scaling it for you.
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Introduction to TikTok App
The TikTok video-sharing app is the most used in the world of social media. Basically, people use this app to create a short music video (within 60 seconds to 3 minutes) and they can also share these music videos with their friends on multiple platforms or can post them on social media sites. TikTok users can add up various filters, effects, stickers, GIFs, and other fun elements to their videos to make them better and more attractive for the viewers.
This app is purely for entertainment purposes, and people enjoy making videos using this app. There are different kinds of videos users can get engaged with such as knowledge, lifestyle, dancing, singing, nostalgia, and many more. Although this app is facing some legal issues with the countries like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, despite that it is having rapid growth across the world. Whenever businesses want to have social media app development solutions, TikTok is the first name that comes to their mind.
Working of TikTok Mobile App
These apps allow uses to do lip-sync on the most popular songs or dialogue of their favourite artists. Users can create their videos and can share them online as well. It is a famous platform that can be used to showcase the real talent of people. Below points will provide you a better understanding of its working process:
- Firstly, the person who wants to join the app has to create an account on the app. For this, they can register or sign-up on the app by entering the details such as email, phone number, and name, or they can use their social media accounts.
- After that, they must manage their app profile and can follow famous artists, actors, singers, or whoever they want to follow. They have to increase their followers as well.
- To increase the followers, making videos and provide interesting content is the only way. Users can create their short videos by recording them, they can apply editing effects, stickers, filters, and so on to make them interactive or striking enough that users will like them.
- App users can edit their profile whenever they want to or they feel the need to do it.
After creating the videos, users can share them with whoever they want or where ever they want to upload them.
Reasons to Consider a TikTok App Clone
TikTok proved its mettle in a very short duration, at the peak it saw the 4th rank in the most downloaded (non-game category) list, on both the Apple and Android application stores. Apart from the controversies it faced, TikTok is certainly an inspiration with what entrepreneurs can do with a simple idea.
If you can think of one feature that will make it go viral or are targeting countries that have TikTok banned, you can be lucky to see millions of downloads for your very own app in a very short time. When you hire app developers from us, we will ensure we put in every new feature in sync with pre-existing ones, for a flawless experience.
Social media app development solutions are in high demand by businesses because social media users are increasing at a rapid speed in the present time. An app like TikTok or TikTok clone apps are in their list of preferences. In the past year, social media users have increased with 520 million new users by July 2021 equivalent to 13.1% of the annual growth.
The report says that 9 out of 10 users are now using social media every month. As per the July 2021 data, there are 4.48 billion social media users worldwide. It is equivalent to 57% of the world’s population. Look at the below picture to get a clear understanding-
Features of a Video-sharing App like TikTok
TikTok planned the things that people love and combined them to create something extraordinary. When we talk about why it has earned the fame it deserved, it is mostly because of the features it offered. TikTok’s mobile app developers combined three of the most important features and present them in a single application. People love videos, they love dubbing, and they love music, combine all of them in bite-sized videos and ta-dah, you get TikTok.
But don’t let it seem so simple, it is all thanks to TikTok’s creators who made the app so smooth, you will fall in love with it instantly. You don’t even need to sign up to access videos, they play right when you first open the app, sign up and everything else comes later. Over the top of all of these perfect features, comes the AI of TikTok, which knows exactly what you would like to watch, this is one of the main reasons why TikTok has been so popular amongst users.
Have a look at the most popular must-have features that made TikTok popular below:
Video scroll
As soon as you open the app, you will be able to scroll through the recommendations when you first open the app, without any registration. This feature is deemed to be one of the reasons for TikTok’s popularity, it enabled users to enjoy videos selected specifically for them by the AI, and most people loved recommendations. It is a virtually infinite scroll which goes on and on till user wants to scroll, with the number of videos that are uploaded, TikTok’s creators made the perfect mix in video scroll to keep users hooked.
Like, comment, share
Be it the heart like the commenting option, or the share option, we will provide you with all of them in the TikTok clone app we create for you. All these have certain weightage in the AI-based algorithm we will make for you if you want and will directly affect the content displayed to particular users with their particular preferences. The sharing capability allows users to share their creations or the videos they like to their friends on different channels, which could directly help you to gain more downloads.
Re-watch liked videos
There will be 2 different sections in the profile allowing users to see the videos they have created, as well as the videos they have liked. This feature enables the users to backtrack and save the videos they liked within the app, we can also include various other features like the watermark of your app when the user downloads a video. A separate screen would be made to enable this feature and you can opt to further advance this feature with your own app’s flavor.
Filters
The app we create for you will support multiple filters of various different types. Users will get to choose the background and foreground subject’s filter when they edit the video they created. We can also include this feature while the users make the videos to ensure they get the result they were looking for. The filter has been hugely popular these days and we will ensure they are as optimized as ever in the app we create for you, as it all comes down to optimization and accuracy.
Video editor
The app will feature a full-fledged video editor with capabilities ranging from normal cropping to changing complete effects in the video. All the video editing features would also include TikTok’s audio overlap capabilities, so the users will be able to make dubbings and videos. The users will also be able to try out the different filters and edit the video down to microseconds, ensuring they can make the most of their skills.
Read Also: A Guide To Grocery Delivery App Cost and Features
Audio catalog
There will be a sperate catalog provided to users where they can find all videos posted on a particular sound. This is one of the most popular reasons why people are continuously attracted to TikTok, most of them love music, so we create a special catalog of videos posted on that particular audio track. We can add more features like videos with similar steps and different music, depending on what you plan to be your own app’s USP.
Hashtag discover
While it has been over 10 years since this happened and came into existence, it is still very relevant on social sites to find content related to a particular term. We will integrate hashtag search in a normal search and integrate it with a caption like alt tags for videos so that people can search for all relevant videos with a variety of methods. We can also tweak this feature to your liking and add another type of discovering feature for your app if you are planning anything like it.
Location-based Content
It is one of the features that is responsible to fluctuate the TikTok app cost as it is an advanced feature. This feature allows users to use the location and see the content posted by other users with a similar location. Users can also put their location to their video.
Video Preview
Before signing up for the app, new users can see some of the popular videos to get what the app will offer to them. But to comment or like any video, they must register the application.
Live Video Streaming
Not only previously recorded videos, but it also provides features of live video streaming for users. It is an on-demand feature specifically integrated into social media applications.
Real-time Analytics
This feature includes the data, statistics, and number of users along with the number of their likes and comments on the videos. It allows seeing the broadcasters and viewers on the graph.
AR Filters
Augmented reality technology has facilitated apps with some advanced features. It provides some amazing filters that give users a thrill. These filters can change the user’s eye color, hair, skin color, and many more that make the video more attractive.
Different Types of TikTok Like App Solutions
There are majorly three options to choose from when getting your app developed. Select one among them as per your business requirement and decided the budget. Check them out below-
1. A White Label Solution
If you are in a hurry, we can provide you with our white label solution, which is completely ready to use for kickstarting a social video-sharing app business. It will cost you less with a little bit of tweaking, and it would seem just like it’s yours.
While this would be the cheapest way to start your business, it would simply mean you entering a market that’s already filled to the brim without having to offer anything of your own. But you don’t need to worry, as we have options that are much cheaper than getting a custom app developed as we can customize the white label app for you at a low price.
2. A Custom Ready-Made Solution
This is simply the most demanded model of entering the business space and a top choice by most start-ups. This model has its drawbacks but it can save a massive amount of money while solving the fundamental problem of white label solutions we discussed above.
This ready-made TikTok solution would be customized and befitted to your brand image, it will cost you a little more than white-label solutions. You can have features added, removed, moved, anything you want with the solution we give you. This model offers both less development time and a low app development cost.
3. Custom-Built Solutions
These can be used to draw the line between start-ups and established businesses in the space. Looking forward to growing exponentially? Planning to serve millions of repeat users each month? It is the only option that will ensure the app holds up to all that pressure.
Monetization Strategies Used by Video Sharing Apps
Businesses get social networking app development services; do you know why? Because this industry is brightening up as the most lucrative sector among all in the present time. What are the monetization strategies applied by businesses via these apps like TikTok? Look at the below:
Fundraising
It is the premium monetization strategy used by businesses that allow them to get in touch with the investors to raise some investment for the app. Even video-sharing apps like TikTok use this strategy.
In-app Purchase
TikTok app doesn’t use this strategy but as an entrepreneur, if you are having social networking app development services, then you can add this into your app. Through this, the app users can purchase some of the advanced elements and can unlock them to use.
App Selling
You can get a video-sharing app developed at your end based on the potential audience base and can sell it later by making a profit. You can also wait for the right time and the peak to come for selling the app.
Advertisement
Displaying advertisements of other brands on your app can be a source to increase revenue. Through it, the app can display ads to the users as per their preferences, age group, location, and others.
Tech stack for Video Sharing App Development
Integrating advanced technologies and tools is necessary to provide your app a competitive advantage. It is the only success mantra you can have to make your app stand out. Hire the right kind of mobile app development company, however, it will enhance the overall TikTok app cost but will provide you an efficient solution.
- Real-time Analytics: Spark streaming, Azure stream analytics, Apache Flink
- Database Management: Datastax
- Payment Services: Braintree, PayPal, Stripe
- Push Notifications: Twilio, Push.io
- Cloud Environment: AWS, Google cloud storage
- Email: Mandrill
- Programming: GWT
- OS: Debian
- Voice, phone, or SMS: Nexmo, Twilio
- Content Delivery Network: Amazon cloud front
- Media Server Configuration: RTMP, HTTP
Team structure Needed for Social Networking App Development
There is always the continuous effort and dedication of a great team behind the success of an app. if your hired team is not good enough, then you can’t get an efficient app but keep the team limited and include only valuable people. It must include-
- Project Manager
- Requirement Analyst
- Android App Developers
- iOS App Developers
- Back-End Developers
- QA Engineers
How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like TikTok?
“How much does TikTok cost”? It is a frequently asked question by businesses and it is obvious when they are going to have a TikTok clone app. Various mobile app development companies provide ready-made TikTok solutions that are customized and befitted to your brand image. You can have features added, removed, moved, anything you want with the solution they develop for you. This ready-made app model offers both reduced times to develop, along a low app development cost.
Hence, a video-sharing social app like TikTok would cost you around $15,000 to $40,000 with basic features. This cost can vary too as there are multiple factors to consider for determining the exact cost. Those factors include app platform, app type, location & experience of the development company, team structure & tech stack, app features, and others. If you are thinking about how to build an app like TikTok? Then, you must be ready for these factors and decide accordingly.
Conclusion
This could be the absolute best time to plan a business that occupies the online social space, especially with the recent ban that surfaced for TikTok. The app was a huge hit, and the space is apparently empty, for new apps to proving their mettle and actually replacing TikTok. TikTok’s app experience and features both combined have led users to love it, and that’s what we will strive for when we create an app like TikTok for our clients.
Anyone would give you the TikTok clone, but our top mobile app developers will consult you with technologies that are scalable to ensure the app holds no matter the increase in the number of users. Our AI research and development department could also help in improving the app functionality, per the features you want in the app. If you are planning to capture the social space, contact us for the best possible quote, compared to other mobile app development companies.