Cost of Developing an App: Case with Messenger

There are basic apps on our smartphones that we use every day, and messengers are among the top. We already have Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger and lots of other apps to chat with friends and family, but nonetheless, users search for new technologies and programs that would offer friendlier interfaces and richer functionality.

Case Studies

Why People Love Mobile Apps

Modern-day smartphone owners are accustomed to high standards of quality and performance seen in the most popular apps, and they are constantly looking for more applications that would go even further to deliver outstanding user experiences.

The popularity of mobile programs can be explained by the fact that people do not want to pay for phone calls and SMS, using only mobile Internet connection or WiFi to exchange messages with other people. Magora has a time-proven history of success building native mobile messengers utilizing the latest technologies and frameworks, and now we would like to share our knowledge with you.

Cloud Services and Chats

Another feature that will distinguish your application from the competition is integration with cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox and other third-party storages and platforms. Usage of cloud service will make file sharing faster and easier, that is why users like this feature so much. But one of the core features, which every modern-day messenger should have is the ability to create chats.

Cost Of Security Features

Chats within messengers typically can be private or group. Make sure that the chats and the messenger itself if highly secure because confidentiality is what valued a lot in the world full of cyber crime and information leaks. So if you are planning to create yet another WhatsApp or a better version of Viber thinks of developing the following security functionality:

Message encryption will grant access only to authorised users with code to decrypt the files
Message expiration time - certain messages or entire chats disappear after a certain period of time.

Price Of Secret Chats

There are a number of smartphone and tablet messengers with outstanding security options - one of them is Telegram available for the both iOS and Android, but there are other open-source apps that use encryption for mobile devices and web browsers. But Telegram has gone far beyond with it Secret Chat feature. You can set messages within the secret chats disappear automatically after any period of time on all devices involved in the interaction. You can set messages to self-destruct and other content including pictures, videos, and other files. Confidential chats in Telegram use two-way encryption to ensure that only the intended recipient can read the message or receive a file.

Cost Of Postponed Messages

One more interesting and efficient feature you can include in your project plan is postponed messages. This Is not the most widespread feature as only a few apps support it, but nevertheless, it can be very convenient because this way users can remind themselves about certain actions, send birthday congratulations or any other scheduled messages. At Magora, we have incorporated the scheduled message functionality into a number of apps which turned out a great success, so do not miss the opportunity.

Our Achievements:

322 App Development Projects

413 Mobile Applications

75 Enterprise Software Solutions

Messenger Functionality

Ability to exchange files and use various data formats. Some ten years ago before the smartphone revolution happened we mostly used our mobile phones to write SMS to each other. Today we have all kinds of media files to share via innovative messengers - videos, music tracks, photos, text documents and other types of data. Apps today not only can share files but take pictures, record audio files and videos, utilizing the device’s hardware. Actually, this is the first thing to think about when developing the requirements for the future app - what data formats is it going to support: music, video, texts, other documents, spreadsheets and so on.

How Much Does Video Recording Feature Cost?

Implementing just one unique and innovative feature like the ability to create short presentations with photos, music, and videos combined together with beautiful filters will stimulate the popularity of your product and attract the niche audience. However, keep in mind that live video streaming and even simple video recording is a complex feature that only professional developers like here at Magora can implement with the most efficient regarding time and money. Actually, one of our recent application developing projects was a social network with advanced video features that allows its users to share short customised videos, keep video diaries and even answer in comments with videos. If you want to read more about our awesome application developing case studies, you can check out our extensive portfolio of successful projects.

Video and Voice Calls

Mobile operators charge high prices for phone calls and messages, that is why many people opt out of traditional mobile phone calls and instead use messengers to make voice and video calls, which can be done via WiFi or internet access from any place at any time. If you want to incorporate phone calls into your messaging app, ensure that it support the following features:

VoIP calls
Video calls
Group voice and video calls

Clients

SWOT Analysis For Developing An App Like WhatsApp

Another thing to think about when building a mobile application like Telegram or WhatsApp is to define its KPI, or key performance indicators, the most important being the growth rate, user retention, and customer engagement. From the very beginning, you should craft a strategy to bring these indicators to the maximum.

Profitability with a large number of users
No need to manually add friends
Available across different platforms
Ability to send different file formats (videos, images, voice messages)
“Mark as unread” feature
Group chats

Competitive market
Not diversified enough, because competitors offer the same features
Social networks like Facebook also compete on this field
Only works with a data plan or WiFi

Growing number of smartphone users
Growing customer base
Implementing video calls with real-time editing features

Popular competitors like Viber, WeChat, Skype
Similar applications that come for free

This is a must-have functionality for making calls within an app, but if you want your application to truly stand out and attract consumers’ attention, you need to consider other aspects as well. The latest trend says that even such applications would be highly engaging and fun - think of Snapchat - it is full of crazy emojis, funny video effects and unparalleled features no other mobile program possesses.

There are other chats that put a strong focus on entertainment, but Snapchat is the ultimate winner among all of them. Not long ago it paid a huge sum of money to buy an eastern European startup. The application used facial recognition functionality to detect faces using the front selfie camera and change the users’ faces in different hilarious ways. These advanced facial recognition features and video filters make it possible to change faces even while making a video - incredible!

According to the latest statistics, consumers are tired of switching between apps - so it would be a perfect solution if your application integrated all the features available in other programs like reminders, calendars, contact and other handy widgets. It makes no sense to developing yet another Snapchat, so try to think of something truly unique that no other similar app has. We have made a research of one of the most popular messaging apps in the world - WhatsApp - and came up with the list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats characteristic of this product.

Key Performance Indicators of an Application

The first important indicator of your app’s performance is a number of active users who regularly use the app. One of the most efficient strategies to grow the user base is to encourage customers to share their great experience within your application with their friends and urge them to install the program. In order to reach out to more customers, you need to clearly understand the purpose and the value of your application.

Estimate the Cost of Developing an App

Taking into account the core functionality of a quality app, we have calculated the approximate cost of a secure and engaging mobile program like the best similar apps out on the market. We have estimated the cost for both iOS and Android and included expenses on design and programming.

Timeline

Android app design timeline
Android app developing timeline
iOS app design timeline
iOS app development timeline
Backend timeline

The most time-consuming features

Chat
Up to 145 hours
File attachments
Up to 40 hours
VoIP calls
Up to 200 hours

How much does it cost to develop an app like WhatsApp? From $35,400 at $20/hour, to $370,000 at 150$/hour.

Request a free quote and estimate the cost of developing an app for iOS and Android at Magora.

<< previous

Apple Developer Fee

next >>

Apple Developer Price