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There is no doubt that video is one of the most important and impactful marketing tools that any business has access to in the modern era. With sites like TikTok and YouTube bringing in numbers that would put many major television networks to shame.
This has caused many people to recognise the value in building their own video sharing app. However, video sharing is a pretty complicated process and building a video sharing app is not necessarily something that you can just fall into.
With that in mind, here is a beginners guide on how to build your own video sharing app.
What does a video sharing app need?
This is the most obvious aspect of a video sharing app. Your users need to be able to upload and, most important, share video in order for your app to succeed. Without those things, you don’t have a video sharing app, you have a whole lot of nothing. You could create a dedicated platform like TikTok, or you could bring video content into an existing platform the way that Twitter and Facebook did.
Editing tools
It’s not just a matter of ensuring that people are able to capture and upload their content, they need to be able to edit their videos as well. Video sharing apps are amazing platforms for the ways that they encourage creativity among their users. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have developed entire visual and creative languages around the editing tools that are provided to users. This can include captions, filters, trimming video, and more. Being able to provide those kinds of tools to your users is the best way to maximise their engagement when creating content.
Streaming
Streaming is a method of interaction that is only becoming more and more popular. Live streaming apps allow for people to entertain and directly engage with their audience like never before. By including a live streaming feature in your app, you’re going to massively improve creators’ ability to connect with the people watching.
A well built feed
One of the best things in the design of TikTok is that the video feed never runs out. No one ever reaches the “end of TikTok.” Instead, they are able to keep scrolling indefinitely without ever running out of interesting, dynamic content. A feed like this is essential if you want your video sharing app to develop a meaningful user base. Not only that but users have demonstrated their desire for high-quality, broadcast level content, as evidenced by services like Red Bee. A well designed feed that provides users with endless, quality content, is the lifeblood of your app.
Tags and categories
User personalisation is an essential ingredient to a successful video sharing app. The popularity of TikTok is, in no small part, due to the quality of the AI that recommends content to its users. By allowing for the categorization and tagging of content, you can drastically increase the session time of your users.
So where do you start?
The first place to start is to figure out the best platform to use for your video sharing app. Your options are typically an SDK, video player libraries, or video app builders. These all have their own benefits and drawbacks but when choosing where to start, the most important things to consider are your budget, your ability when it comes to things like coding, and the speed at which you want to reach the market.
Building a video sharing app is an ambitious project, but the sheer popularity of online video proves just how viable a model it really is.