How much Does it Cost to Build a Messaging App Like WhatsApp?
We have come to a stage where we can reach anyone, anytime within seconds. Out of all, one form of connecting is also through messages. Messages are typed over the phone and sent. With the growing technology, today we have chatting apps which can be used through an internet connection in your phone. These apps help us send instant messages and give us many more facilities.
Apart from the entertainment part, these apps are also used for business purposes which result as very fruitful. In fact, special apps are designed for business chatting purpose. For eg: WhatsApp business
Chatting basically means to exchange texts through an internet connection. When there is connectivity messages are sent instantly and received as well. With no connectivity, the working stops and you can no more connect.
The mobile application industry is getting more competitive and users want apps that are user-friendly, fast and cheap because none of us wants to pay fees for short messages anymore. Due to this, while willing to make a WhatsApp similar app, it is highly important to know, what are those features you suppose to use, which elements are going to be included and finally, how are you going to build an extension.
On the other hand, while developing an app you need to consider all the future aspects and design accordingly. While designing or building the app, your purpose will automatically be its growth after a certain period of time. Therefore, for that growth, you need to think initially and start working for it from the first stage itself.
Also, for a good start, hire a professional and a good team so that your money and reputation is not risked. Developing a good app initially does not mean that it has lead to success. Success comes after your app has gone through different phases of growth and development. It should not crash after a certain period of time if new additions are made.
As we all know after a certain period of time, everything and everyone needs changes. Also, due to competitors, you need to get yourself updated every now and then. Hence, your app should be built and designed in such a manner that it is able to stand up with all the changes and all the additions.
Deal with people who have already worked on similar projects and have an idea for the same. This helps your app to adopt the change in future and whenever possible and make a growth to your launch.
This will retain your customers and help you build and you are grow your reputation and business as well.
Some of the features that you should keep in mind while developing a chatting app are :
Initially, when the user downloads the app and opens it, he needs to sign in or register through a valid phone number or email address. This is a feature made for security reasons and for identification purposes. And also, as a precaution that nobody misuses the app.
The next step, the user does, is to find out contacts and the users, using the same app and also the people they can contact using the app. Therefore, all the contacts should be added from the address book. Automatically, the app should show the user’s friends. You can also connect the app to social sites. For eg: Facebook,etc. The more friends, the user has, the more likely to use the app.
Every app user needs its own individuality while he uses the app. Therefore, for this, profiles should be created so that every app user has its own individuality while using the app. In this also, you can give unique and different features which might look attractive to users. You can also give the feature of a customized profile. For eg: nicknames, profile photos, changing of backgrounds and patterns, etc
This refers to the alertness of a new message. Whenever a new message arrives, notification should be given in order to notify the user, so that the user can respond.
This feature enables the users to have a chat more conveniently at the same time by making groups. This means that they can add selected contacts and chat with them. This saves time and complexity of contacting everyone for conveying the same message.
This feature can be a very useful one. In today’s world, it can be used as a safety feature and also for other purposes. As a safety feature, this can be a great gift to the users. Through this, u can navigate each other’s location. Also, various changes can be made to this and features can be added.
Sharing of files and Images:
With the change in technology, time of sharing of only texts is over now. Through, chatting apps, you can not only chat but also share documents, audios, videos, files, and images. For this feature, you need to implement some algorithms.
This feature can be useful when the user does not wants to type anymore. This should be played directly in the chat itself and have the facility of rewinding and pausing, making more convenient for the user.
Sometimes, when people find calling rates higher, they prefer calling through the app. Make sure, that the calling that takes place should have good connectivity and clearance. This will make them use your app again and again. On the other hand, video calls will serve as a cherry on the cake. Giving this feature to your users will serve you good as they can use video calls for various purposes easily.
While building an app, you need to provide first and foremost the safety feature for the messages. This results in the retention of your users. Their reliability over the app increases. Also, apart from this, you can also add the self-deleting feature, in which messages can disappear after a certain period of time. For eg: WhatsApp stores messages till the time they are not delivered. If a person’s net connectivity is off, then the messages are stored. Once he connects to the internet, the messages are sent and removed from the app store. The broadcast feature can be very useful as well. Users can send the same message to any number of contacts.
How to measure the success level?
A number of active users:
When you are building an app, you need to be clear about its usage. It should be able to convey the exact usability for the users. So that users recommend it and share it with others.
You can also combine the hashtag facility for the users. This feature helps in promoting your app on different social sites.
Retaining the users is the most important feature and the most difficult one to do as well. Let the users synchronize the app and notify them whenever a new user from their contacts joins the app.
Make your app interesting by adding different types of stickers, emojis, background pattern, fonts, etc. This makes the user engage more into the app and they are likely to use it more because of its fun element.
How WhatsApp like apps actually make money:
1. Subscriptions: users have to pay some fee to use the app or its premium features;
1. In-application purchases: paying for stickers, themes, and emoji;
1. Advertising: displaying the ads in the special column or in-line.
No doubt, the future is in users’ pockets – they send over trillions of texts messages via chat apps each year. Such kind of conversational interfaces will definitely drive deeper relations between consumers and brands. As a result, mobile chat app development is one of the most perspective and promising areas of modern cyber business. So, that is why the importance of finding out how to make a chat app plays a terribly crucial role for any programmer. Some web application development USA and other places around the world say that integrating and lining up all the factors together automatically gives you a positive result. The basic operational features require as much as 100 hours from the custom android app development USA for complete integration in your app.
The success of any app creation is a mixed factor of all the factors and aspects related to the app creation. These decisions attract different work time and costs from iPhone application development company USA available in your area. The time required to work on apps platform ranges from 140-155 hours. All the aspects need to be balanced and a combination of all of them leads to the success whether technological or design, every aspect is important and plays a crucial role in the result in the end. Chat App Development will cost you in the range rates of $10,000 to $30,000+. It may vary as cost depends on the functionalities of App. But you can get better deals from PHP web development company Australia if you’re specific about what you want for your app.
