WhatsApp conserves a market share of around 850 million users followed by Facebook Messenger with 740 million users and there are many in the queue. According to the study published by Business Insider, there will be around 30 trillion messages sent over the instant messaging mobile apps by the end of 2017 and therefore, the concept of instant messaging app is likely to rise in the foreseen times as well. In 2020, the download number turned to 96 million which is around a 42.4% year-to-year rise from 2019 February. Undeniably, there are many instant messaging applications present around the corner, but still, we can see a secular shift in the venture of developing messaging apps. In this blog, we will discuss how to create a messaging app with cost, features, and required tech stack.
According to the study, around 80% of the users are endorsing some of the other messaging mobile apps. Talking on a broader note, 2.5 million active users are using messaging apps to make communication even better.
So, if you are considering the trend and looking for an instant messaging app development company to help, then you surely have landed in the right place.
Number of WhatsApp users in the US from 2019 to 2023 (in millions)
How to Create a Messaging App like WhatsApp?
When looking for mobile app development services, there are a lot of things that you need to consider. The most important question to take into consideration is what are the key features of instant messaging apps?
Salient Features of Your Custom Instant Messaging App
Let’s talk about the various features for different users of your mobile application.
User Panel
When you are looking for app development services, the user panel needs to be worked on really well. Bringing on the screen a user-friendly experience when working on encrypted messaging app development is something our team excels in.
To build your messaging app you should include some most popular features of the user panel:
Joint Application:
This is the basic section of the app. Users can join by registering through email id, and contact number for joining the app.
Number/Email ID verification:
Once updated, a verification link or the OTP is sent either to the registered email ID or the updated contact number.
Manage and view profile:
The users after registering into the app can manage their profile by adding status and profile picture.
View list of connected users:
When building an instant messaging application integrating the list of the contacts being displayed instantaneously is important and users can start chatting with their loved ones.
Set chat wallpaper:
To make the chat interface more appealing and interactive, users can select the chat background images from either the built-in library or from their picture gallery.
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Send text/audio/videos/ images/ location:
This is the basic attribute of an instant messaging app. Users can share text messages, multimedia files such as audio and video clips, GIFs smileys, geographic location, and stickers to make the chat more intuitive.
Share contacts:
Under this section, the real-time chat application user can share the contact details of one another over the chat in a very convenient way.
View chat history:
Users can view the saved chat history and can create an archived copy of the concerned messages as well.
Manage privacy settings:
When thinking about how to create a real-time chat application in Android privacy seems important. Users can manage their privacy settings such as they can turn off their status updates, blocking the users if required, safeguarding their profile picture, and much more.
Group chats:
Users can create the groups for initiating the communication. They can add they are known friends under a single group to make the chatting experience even more interactive.
The user panel is one of the most engaging and profit-generating sections of any mobile application. The solutions that are delivered to you must be designed in a way that reflects user engagement.
With the greatest aesthetics and interesting color theme, we make sure your users are never fed up with using the application. The features that we add make it more engaging for the audience of all demographics and age groups.
Must Read: How to develop a multi-purpose messaging app like WeChat?
Admin Panel:
The admin panel of your real-time messaging system needs to be developed in a way that makes managing the application easy. Prominent features of the admin panel are:
Manage updates:
All the app updates and the modified versions of the app released are managed and monitored by the admin.
Add/edit/ delete layouts:
Well, the admin is solely responsible for adding or deleting the chat layouts to keep the library up-to-date.
Manage users:
All the users registered with the app and are using the services are managed and monitored by the admin.
Backup management:
All the settings related to the account, privacy, and backup data of the users are redirected to the cloud servers. The admin conserves all the rights for securing all the user data in a completely confidential manner.
Manage security and privacy guidelines:
The Admin manages all the security and privacy guidelines for the app’s usability. Any further modifications can also be introduced by the admin as and when required.
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Action against reported users:
In case the user sends a request for a person, the admin reserves the right to block the user from using the app and can take a tough call as well according to the criticality of the situation.
Dashboard statistics:
All the data related to the app usability, number of installs, and updates most loved are monitored and managed by the admin.
These are the features that are for the admin end. We make it a point that the admin has full control over the application. They can choose to work with the application the way they want and deliver solutions that they can manipulate. It is important to have a little transparency to maintain the credibility of the application and how everything works for them. If you are looking forward to developing a solution where you have full control and your users can enjoy and interact with each other without any troubles then you are at the right place.
Also, Read: How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Messaging App like Telegram?
Advance features:
When creating an app like Whatsapp there are a lot of things that one needs to consider. This instant messaging app has some advanced features that our mobile app developers can easily replicate. Some of them are
App analytics:
This is the major countable feature of an instant messaging app. The admin should be able to determine the number of users attached to the app, the features they most love, the number of app installs and uninstalls, etc for making the comparison among the app-related statistics. This way it gets easy to streamline the app’s operability and productivity thus allowing the app owner to adopt the strategies for improvising the app’s core value.
Encrypted chats:
Now since, we are talking about the basic features of an instant messaging mobile app, talking about encrypted chats is a must. In an app like WhatsApp, all the communication that happens between the different users is completely encrypted and is then located on the cloud servers.
Voice or audio recording:
With the help of this feature, users can record their voices by just tapping on the recording button. Once they press the button, the audio recorded is delivered to the users. This helps a lot in keeping the users at bay from writing long messages as they can just record the voice and send it to another person. It greatly helps in making the conversation quite comprehended and intuitive.
Money transfer:
This can be said as quite transformational when you have an impeccable app idea running in mind. Many social networking apps are planning to add a money transfer feature for making transactions. Users will be able to transfer funds with their loved ones, via the help of an eWallet app.
Cloud services:
Integrating cloud solutions is a must for making the core ideation of the app quite enriched and empowered. All the communication details, chat history, updates, and the released versions are stored on the cloud servers to proffer fluent functionality. It not only helps to make the app functionality quite fast but also ensures to protection of all your business and user data in a completely sophisticated way.
Multiprotocol and compatible:
When we are talking about the best features of an instant messaging app, for sure we cannot give this feature a miss. The app should be able to operate on multiple platforms such as Windows, iOS, and Android. Furthermore, the app should support multiple protocols such as Google Talk, ICQ, and AIM to make communications reliable.
Audio and video streaming:
An app like WhatsApp must support all the videos and audio sent. It should be capable of playing all the links delivered by the users. The link for any video or audio can belong to any site such as YouTube or Savvy and there are several others. Thus, it very imperative that the app be able to play all the links and the files conveniently, or else the users might uninstall your app.
Push notifications:
Push technology is the major attribute when it comes to developing an app like WhatsApp. The users can be kept updated in case some file or message is being sent or received. The users are informed in case the app is not updated. This is a great way of keeping the users engaged and keeps them attuned to your services.
These are just a few features of an instant messaging app that your developer needs to take care of. No matter if you want to develop a mobile app for iOS or Android the experts at Octal IT Solution can deliver perfect solutions.
Each of these features is well-researched. Our experts conduct in-depth market research to make sure that the solutions that are delivered to you earn you well. These elements that we add to your solution are well-defined and help you earn the best results.
These are practically the loopholes in other applications in the market. We make it a point that the loopholes in other applications are covered in yours and help you earn the best results.
Must Read: How To Develop an On-Demand Video Streaming Mobile App?
Required Technology Stack to Create Your Messaging App:
When hiring a consultancy firm for your instant messaging application development considering the technical stack would be important. We share here the technical stack to develop your application.
- GWT- for Powerful Programming
- Datastax-for Data Management
- SMS, Voice, and Phone Verification -Nexmo, Twilio
- Mandrill -for everything related to emails
- Push Notifications-Google Cloud Messaging Service, Twilio, Push.io
- Payments-Braintree & PayPal, Stripe, EWallets
- Streaming Media System -Helix Universal Server, Wowza Streaming Engine, Nimble Streamer
- Database -MongoDB, HBase, Cassandra, Postgress, Mail Chimp Integration
- Debian-the Universal Operating System
- Real-time Analytics-Hadoop, Spark, BigData, Apache Flink, Cisco, IBM
- Cloud Environment -AWS
You can hire experts from various domains to get things done. When you hire our dedicated experts to build an app like WhatsApp you get the best results in no time.
Instant Messaging App Architecture
For engineering and an extraordinary instant messaging app, it is vital to have a proficient team. Here are the key persons who will help in crafting out the best in the best-in-the-class mobile app.
Project Manager
An expert in this arena must be imbibed with immense knowledge in the field of development and possess excellent managerial skills. S/he should be able to outline the best solutions for developing the products.
Designers
The developed mobile app should look quite beautiful to attract users. Certainly, you require a proficient squad of UX/UI designers who can set just the perfect color, background, and other elements.
Developers
Undeniably you will require the individual teams of both top Android app developers and iOS app developers. For back-end API construction, you need a set of good back-end developers. Front-end developers can be indulged in developing the basic architecture of the app.
Testing and QA Team
For making your app rank the charts, it is a must to pass it through the varying testing phases. Indulge a team of good testers to fix the bugs to make the app sound on the grounds of operability and performance.
Related Article: Why Mobile App Development is Vital for Business Success
How Much Does It Cost to Develop an Instant Messaging App Such as WhatsApp?
The messaging market is escalating at an impressive pace. The cost of developing a Whatsapp-like app mainly depends on 4 key factors
- Platform selected (Android, iOS, or both)
- Verify the features
- App development center selected
- Complexity and time required in developing
Therefore, before embarking on the surface of app development, it is imperative to comprehend the above concerns. An instant messaging app with reasonable features can cost around $25,000-$30,000 for single platforms. However, the price may rise to $45,000, in case you go for both platforms.
Read More: Top OTT App Development Companies
Conclusion!
Now that you have read about the details of messaging apps like WhatsApp, all you need to do is hire an encrypted messaging app development team that would help you win the market in a limited time. Also if you want to develop an app like Tiktok then you can consult with our development team. Hiring a third-party developer would help you bring to the screen the experience that you visualized.
