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How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Likee?

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 How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Likee?
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How much does it cost to build an app?

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Likee?

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App development

Develop Credibility and Trust

World-class app development that allows you to start, run and grow your business.

Building a custom app can boost your brand's trust and credibility, ultimately benefiting your business in the long run. We will discuss the following topics:

1. Reputation Management
2. Customer Support and Engagement
3. Data-Driven Decision Making
4. Demonstrating Social Responsibility

A well-made custom app can dramatically improve your brand's marketability and reputation. A trustworthy app will show that you are dedicated to providing top-notch goods and services. As a result of knowing they can rely on you, your clients and business partners will have more faith in you.

A custom app also strengthens your brand identification by demonstrating your professionalism and attention to detail.

Customer Support and Engagement
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A custom app enables you to offer personalized customer support and engagement, helping you address the unique needs and pain points of your African target market. 

By incorporating in-app support features, such as chatbots, help centres, or direct communication channels, you can provide timely assistance to your users, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty. 

This level of support also encourages users to share their positive experiences with others, further boosting your brand's credibility.

Data-Driven Decision Making
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You may get useful user data through custom app creation, giving you insights into user behavior and preferences. You may improve your app and broader business strategy by studying this data and making wise decisions.

Delivering a more individualized experience for your users is made possible by a data-driven strategy. This helps to increase their faith in your brand and ultimately ensures that they will stay visiting.

Demonstrating Social Responsibility
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Putting money into a customized app that caters to your target market's needs demonstrates your commitment to social responsibility.

You can showcase your brand's dedication to having a beneficial influence by developing an app that takes into account regional difficulties, environmental issues, or social issues that are pertinent to your audience.

This thoughtful approach to app creation not only strengthens the integrity of your brand, but it also appeals to customers who value companies with a clear sense of mission.

Custom App development

Benefits of Custom App Development

World-class app development that allows you to start, run and grow your business.

Imagine custom app development as an expert chef crafting a personalised menu for their restaurant. Just as a meticulously planned and executed meal can leave diners with a memorable culinary experience, a custom app is specifically designed to cater to your business's distinct needs and objectives, leaving a lasting impression on your users. 

Investing in custom app development offers several advantages, including:

  1. Improved user experience
  2. Increased efficiency
  3. Competitive advantage
  4. Higher profitability
  5. Seamless Integration with Existing Systems
  6. Enhanced Flexibility and Adaptability
Improved user experience
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A custom app allows you to create an interface that is tailored to your target audience, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience. By focusing on the preferences and expectations of your users, you can craft an app that not only meets their needs but also delights them with personalized features and intuitive navigation.The best part? If you develop an app that your users love, you ensure that they keep coming back for more and turn them into lifelong customers.

Custom apps can be designed to streamline business processes and boost productivity. By automating repetitive tasks, integrating with existing systems, and providing real-time data access, custom apps empower your team to work more efficiently and make informed decisions quickly, just like a well-tailored suit that enables effortless movement and comfort.

A unique app helps you stand out from the competition and attract more customers. In a world where off-the-shelf solutions are abundant, a custom mobile app acts as a distinctive and exclusive suit that sets you apart in the crowd, showcasing your brand's personality and commitment to providing a superior experience.

A well-designed app can generate increased revenue and improve customer retention. By offering a memorable and engaging user experience, your custom app encourages users to continue using your services and make purchases. It's akin to wearing a sharp, tailored suit that not only grabs attention but also instils trust and confidence in your brand, ultimately resulting in increased profitability.

Custom app development enables seamless integration with your existing systems and third-party applications. This ensures a smooth flow of data between various platforms, enhancing communication and collaboration within your organization. The ability to integrate effortlessly is like having a versatile tool that easily connects and works in harmony with other components in your business ecosystem.

As your business evolves, a custom app can be easily modified or expanded to accommodate changing requirements and market trends. This adaptability is like having a dynamic strategy that can be adjusted and fine-tuned to suit your business's changing needs, ensuring continued relevance and success in an ever-changing environment.The benefits don’t just stop there though. If you want to build trust and credibility with your customers, a custom app is a great way to do so.

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Pivoting and Iterating

Investing in custom app development can be expensive, but being open to pivoting and iterating based on market feedback is crucial to ensure long-term success. By adapting your app to the ever-changing needs and preferences of your target market, you can stay ahead of the competition, increase user satisfaction, and maximize your return on investment.

Encourage users to provide feedback and reviews, which will help you identify pain points and areas for improvement. By addressing these concerns, you demonstrate your commitment to serving the unique needs of your users, enhancing your app's credibility and increasing user satisfaction. Tools like in-app surveys, app store reviews, or social media can be used to gather feedback and gauge user sentiment.

Iterate Based on User Data
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Analyze user behaviour and engagement data to understand how your app is being used and identify potential bottlenecks or areas of friction. By making data-driven decisions, you can prioritize improvements and new features that will resonate with your audience, maximizing the impact of your development budget and efforts.

As you adapt your app based on market feedback, be prepared to allocate resources for ongoing updates and improvements. While this may increase your app's overall cost, the benefits include increased user satisfaction, reduced churn, and ultimately, higher long-term profitability. Regular updates also demonstrate your commitment to delivering a high-quality app experience tailored to your users' needs.

Adopt a flexible, agile development methodology that enables prompt iteration and change in response to market feedback.

Your app will stay relevant and helpful to your target market if you are receptive to user needs and can swiftly pivot and make adjustments.

By prioritizing products and enhancements that have the greatest impact, an agile methodology can also assist you in managing development expenses more successfully.

While it's essential to iterate and adapt your app based on user feedback, it's also crucial to balance this with innovation and forward-thinking. Continuously explore new technologies, trends, and market opportunities to ensure your app stays ahead of the curve and caters to the evolving needs of your user base. By striking the right balance between adaptation and innovation, you can maintain a competitive edge and secure long-term success for your app.

App development

The Importance of UX and UI

Creating an outstanding user experience and design is crucial for a successful app. A well-designed app should be visually appealing, intuitive, and user-friendly.

  1. Consistency: Consistent design elements throughout the app, such as typography, colours, and button styles, create a unified look and feel. This consistency reduces the cognitive load on users, helping them navigate your app with ease and understand its functionality more quickly.
  2. Simplicity: A simple and uncluttered interface reduces distractions and makes it easier for users to focus on the tasks at hand. Strive for a minimalistic design by eliminating unnecessary elements, using whitespace effectively, and prioritizing essential features.
  3. Feedback: Providing feedback, such as visual cues and confirmation messages, helps users understand the results of their actions. This can include animations for button clicks, success messages for completed tasks, or error messages when something goes wrong. Clear feedback enhances user satisfaction and encourages continued use of your app.
  1. Understand your target audience: Research your users' demographics, needs, preferences, and behaviours to tailor your app to their expectations. Conduct surveys, interviews, and usability testing to gather insights that help shape your app's features and design.
  2. Use clear navigation: Intuitive navigation is essential for a positive user experience. Implement well-organized menus, easily accessible search functions, and recognizable icons to help users find their way around your app effortlessly.
  3. Optimize for performance: Fast loading times and smooth performance are critical for user engagement. Optimize your app's code, reduce file sizes, and use efficient algorithms to ensure your app runs quickly and seamlessly on various devices.
The Impact of Good Design on App Adoption and Retention
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Higher app adoption rates and greater client retention result from spending money on excellent design and user experience. A well-designed app has a higher likelihood of being passed along by users and being used again, which leads to better ratings, word-of-mouth advertising, and long-term success.

App development

Security Considerations for App Development

In today's interconnected digital world, app security is paramount. We take a look at some vital security considerations.

The Privacy Act of 1974 is the primary privacy regulation in America that regulates the sharing of data. The Privacy Act governs how federal agencies may gather, utilize, and disclose personal information. Individuals are given specific rights under it, including the ability to access and update their personal information, and federal agencies are required to protect such data from illegal disclosure.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for health information, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) for financial information, and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for children's online data are just a few federal laws that deal with privacy and data sharing in addition to the Privacy Act. Additionally, each state has its own privacy laws that could offer additional protections.

Keep up with the latest security threats and best practices, such as incorporating multi-factor authentication, securing APIs, and using secure coding practices. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments can help identify potential weaknesses and protect your app from emerging threats.

Working with Trusted Vendors
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Select a reputable development partner with a proven track record in security best practices, like Scrums. A reliable vendor will prioritize security throughout the development process and help you build a secure app that meets industry standards and best practices.

Scrums.com provides high quality engineering teams to scaling enterprises at lower costs. Scrums.com designs, builds, deploys and maintains custom software that gives scale-ups the opportunity to grow world-class businesses.

Scrums.com provides high quality engineering teams to scaling enterprises at lower costs. Scrums.com designs, builds, deploys and maintains custom software that gives scale-ups the opportunity to grow world-class businesses.

How much does it cost to build an app?
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How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Likee?

Discover the key factors that impact the cost of developing a video-sharing app like Likee for U.S. users.
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Reliability

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Quality user stories into production rate

Happy customers

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Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Consistent delivery

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Successful projects delivered

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When building an app like Likee, it’s essential to understand that video-sharing platforms fall into a distinct category of highly complex apps. Likee isn’t just a simple content-sharing platform. It integrates advanced video editing tools, real-time filters, and social networking capabilities. This means a combination of features, compliance needs, performance demands, and more drives the development costs.

The video-sharing app market in the United States has been booming, with similar apps being top-rated among Gen Z and Millennials. Developing such an app means meeting user expectations of top-tier performance, real-time interactions, and a seamless user experience. This custom app development relies on advanced technology stacks, considerable backend infrastructure, and exceptional design. Let’s break down the factors that specifically impact the app development cost for an app like Likee.

Platform and Device Compatibility

How Platform Affects App Development Cost

Platform choice is pivotal in influencing how much it costs to build an app like Likee. In the United States, it’s essential to consider the popularity ratio between Android and iOS users. As of 2023, iOS maintains a dominant market share among United States smartphone users, but you can’t ignore Android users, particularly among younger audiences who frequently use video-sharing apps. Deciding whether to pursue custom app development natively for these platforms or use a cross-platform approach (using tools like React Native or Flutter) will significantly impact your budget.

Native iOS & Android Development: Developing an app like Likee natively for iOS and Android means writing separate codebases for each platform (usually in Swift for iOS and Kotlin or Java for Android). This will increase custom app development costs because each platform will require distinct coding, testing, and design efforts. Moreover, native development allows for optimal performance since the app takes full advantage of each platform’s unique features. However, the additional complexity and time involved will heavily influence how much it costs to build an app with a dual-native approach.

Cross-Platform Development: Cross-platform development allows you to create a unified codebase that operates on iOS and Android. Frameworks like React Native or Flutter can help lower custom app development costs by reducing the amount of separate work needed. Though this approach can help you hit both platforms faster, some platform-specific features (e.g., iOS-specific haptic feedback or Android’s intent system) may require extra development work or native integrations, which could add to the total cost.

Beyond Smartphones: Apps like Likee often extend beyond mobile devices, offering compatibility with tablets and, increasingly, web platforms to ensure a broader user base. Expanding to these additional devices can increase the cost of building an app, as it requires more testing, interface adjustments, and possible changes to the back-end architecture to support different screen resolutions and functionalities.

Choosing between native and cross-platform development and compatibility requirements is essential in shaping the budget for custom app development when aiming to build an app similar to Likee.

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Design and User Experience (UX/UI)

The user experience and interface (UX/UI) design, particularly for a video-sharing app like Likee, is crucial to competitiveness. Video-sharing apps need a sleek, frictionless interface where users can browse content, share videos, and engage with filters within a clean, easy-to-navigate environment.

  • Intuitive Interface: Building an intuitive interface that places content creation tools seamlessly at the user’s fingertips effectively increases user engagement but requires personalized design iterations, thus increasing the app development cost.
  • Emotional Design: In the United States, apps like Likee thrive on user emotion and engagement, especially among younger demographics. Exciting, vibrant color palettes and animations can draw users back to the app but involve additional design and testing processes.

Integrations with Third-Party Services or External Systems

Third-party integrations are essential to ensure a robust, feature-rich app like Likee. The use of external systems enhances the app's core functionalities and impacts the cost of building it. Depending on their complexity and licensing, these integrations can elevate the user experience while adding to the project’s overall cost.

  • Social Sharing Capabilities: Integrating with social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok is vital for an app like Likee. This functionality allows users to share their content across multiple platforms, boosting engagement and expanding reach. However, each social platform has its own API, specific requirements, and possible licensing fees. Ensuring smooth and secure integration across all these networks can add complexities and costs to custom app development.
  • Push Notifications: A core feature for any video-sharing app is keeping its users actively engaged. Push notifications, triggered by events such as new followers or comments, are essential for maintaining user retention. Leveraging third-party services like Firebase to send automated notifications helps streamline this process. However, custom push notification strategies targeting users based on behavior, preferences, or real-time events will complicate the app’s development and back-end infrastructure.
  • CRM and Analytics Platforms: Integration with analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms like Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Google Analytics is crucial to measure user behavior, content performance, and app success. These tools help you understand how users interact with your app, what features drive growth, and where improvements are needed. While the integration typically involves utilizing the platforms' APIs, the costs can vary based on the level of detail you want to track and the number of users your app serves, as licensing fees often scale with usage.
  • Payment Gateway Integration: If your app incorporates in-app purchases, live-streaming tips, or premium features, integrating secure payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, or in-app purchases via Apple or Google Play is critical. Each service often takes a percentage of the transactions processed, adding to the ongoing cost structure.

Each integrator enhances your app’s functionality and contributes to the overall cost of building an app like Likee, factoring in specialized APIs, licensing fees, and the complexity of securing and maintaining these systems.

Database & Back-End Infrastructure

A video-sharing platform like Likee is data-intensive, requiring scalable backend architecture for managing users and videos and driving features such as real-time notifications or in-app currency for gifting.

  • Cloud Storage for Video Content: The cost of storing massive amounts of user-generated video content can be significant, and services like Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage are often used.
  • Real-Time Video Processing: Managing server-side operations for processing video filters, compressing files, and presenting real-time changes to users requires expertise in video processing platforms.

To cater to United States users, choosing reliable, customizable back-end frameworks and cloud infrastructure ensures low latency and efficient data delivery.

Ongoing Maintenance and Updates

Launching an app like Likee isn’t the end—the app will require continuous maintenance and updates. This includes fixing bugs, incorporating user feedback, and adding new features like curated video categories or updated AR filters.

Compliance with United States-based regulations like GDPR or COPPA is essential for app success, and these frequent legal updates will raise the cost of maintaining and updating the app.

Team Expertise and Location

Development costs also hinge on the quality of the development team.

In the case of a video-sharing platform similar to Likee, you'll need developers familiar with the following:

  • Real-time Communication Systems: Ensuring real-time video uploads and streaming necessitates experienced backend developers.
  • AI and AR experts: Building advanced facial recognition-based AR experiences requires machine learning experts.

Team location also plays a significant role—for instance, United States-based teams often have higher hourly rates than offshore teams but may deliver faster deployment timelines, familiarity with United States regulations, and more localized user insights.

Hidden Costs & Miscellaneous Factors

Developing a high-performance app like Likee involves several hidden costs that can impact the budget. One of the primary considerations is QA & testing. Ensuring the app's stability, performance, and data integrity requires extensive mobile and cloud testing to catch potential issues early. This process is essential for maintaining app quality but can be costly, especially for an app with complex features like Likee.

App Store Fees are another factor. Publishing on platforms like the Apple App Store or Google Play involves ongoing fees. Apple, for example, requires a $99 annual developer fee, while Google Play charges a one-time $25 fee. Additionally, compliance with COVID-19-related app store updates might incur legal costs, particularly in regions like the United States.

Legal and compliance costs should be noted. Apps that collect or process user data must adhere to data privacy laws, which vary by region. In the United States, regulations like COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) mandate specific practices for protecting children's data. Meanwhile, you must comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requirements if your app operates in multiple countries. Ensuring your app meets these legal standards involves additional resources, legal fees, and possible third-party audits to safeguard sensitive user information.

What Makes This App Category Unique in Terms of Development?

Building a video-sharing app like Likee comes with a unique set of technological challenges, which are magnified in the United States due to competitive user expectations.

The United States continues to be a hub for social media innovation, and users there expect seamless performance, high-quality video processing, and highly engaging AR filters and experiences. With such high standards, app developers must prioritize building a robust, efficient platform.

Working with a team specializing in complex app creation across new technologies like AI, AR, and real-time broadcasting can make or break an app's success in the United States.

Are you interested in making your Likee app concept a reality? 

At Scrums.com, we specialize in custom app development tailored for United States users. Let our experienced team help you bring your video-sharing app to life. From video streaming to AR filters, we’ve got the expertise you need! Reach out today for a custom development estimate, and let's build the next big thing together!