Do you want to know how to make a messaging software that will rival WhatsApp or Telegram? This question often arises among business owners who decide to pursue the idea of developing a messaging app.
Market State: Is There Still the Potential?
Let’s take a look at some of the best chat apps that could become your competitors.
- The adoption of smartphones will grow from 60% in 2018 to 79% in 2026 all over the world.
- By 2025, four out of five mobile connections will be made with a smartphone.
- Almost 50% of all smartphone users use apps mostly for communication with friends and acquaintances.
- By 2020, the average revenue per user is expected to exceed $15.
Below you can see the most popular chat apps as of right now based on the number of monthly active users.
Feature-Set of a Messaging App
How does a chat app work? If you look at WhatsApp, this instant messaging app allows for the exchange of text, video, or audio messages between two users or multiple users within a group chat app. The application uses Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). This protocol is fully decentralized, which makes WhatsApp highly secure.
Must-Have Functionality to Create a Chat App
Just like with any other type of app, you can build an app with a basic set of features.
1. Authorization
2. Contact importing
3. Messaging
- A server-based chatting app stores all messages on a server. If you decide to make a chat app of this type, all the interactions between users and the server should happen via the HTTPS protocol and be encrypted with an SSL certificate. The task is not only to build a chat app, but to create one that will belong to those that are considered secure chatting apps.
- Client-side messenger apps do not utilize servers to store messages. When a user sends a message, it is authenticated by the central server and encrypted by an asymmetric cryptography algorithm, which is often called public-key cryptography. The message is delivered to the recipient via a wireless mesh network.
4. Media file sharing
Chat App Features to Stand Out
If you are seriously considering the development of a messenger and want to know how to create an app that will stand out among competitors, think about including the features below.
- Video calls
- Channels and groups
- Encrypted communication
- Self-destructing messages
- On-schedule messages
- Chatbots
- Invisible Ink
- Stickers
- Games
Vital Considerations & Tech Stack to Make a Messanger
The tech stack that is available also influences the app development process and which features you can build. Let’s investigate which technologies can help you make a chat app that users will fall in love from the first use.
1. Security
Security features are a vital consideration when you create a chat app.
In order to create an app that will not jeopardize the privacy of users, WhatsApp partnered with Open Whispers systems. This partnership helped the company build an end-to-end encryption system that secures all communication happening inside the app.
Telegram is another example of an app with superior security. Telegram uses its own in-house encryption protocol. Cryptographic keys are changed every week or after users have sent a certain number of messages.
2. Well-planned back-end
The key functionality of a messaging app, or the back-end, involves infrastructure like RESTful API, databases, storage servers, messaging protocols like XMPP, notification services, etc.
3. Push notifications
Notification can help you convert one-time users into some of your most dedicated. When you create a chat app, think about push notifications as a must for your solution. Take a look at the Firebase Cloud Messaging technology for Android and for Firebase, or Apple Push Notifications for iOS.
4. Integration of geolocation
With CLLocationManager Class for an iOS messaging app, and android.location package for messenger apps for Android, you can enable users to share their location, or the locations of stores and restaurants they have visited, etc.
5. Cloud
With cloud synchronization, all records including text messages, videos, and other media files are synchronized between different devices.
6. Native or cross-platform app
The first step for you is to decide whether you want to create a native app or one that is hybrid. It might seem like a great idea to create a hybrid solution, but, in reality, it is far from that. Native applications provide flawless performance and a better user experience, and allow for the addition of sophisticated features.
Cost & Timeline of a Messaging Software
Many factors influence the final prices of the app development process, including design, features, the development company you hire, the number of supported operating systems, etc.
How much does it cost to build an app like WhatsApp? Depending on the project size, number of supported platforms, features and design, the cost may start at ~$50,000-$80,000 and exceed $240,000. It might not be a good idea to copy an existing application, as a chat app like this will not be able to attract customers.
The following information table will help you allocate your budget to make a messaging app.
A number of factors influence the final app development cost and timeline. At MLSDev, the development process is divided into the discovery and development stages.
Discovery stage consists of the following steps:
- business analysis
- UX/UI design
- software architecture building
- project management
- team review
Development stage has the following steps:
- early planning
- development
- QA and testing
- project management
- team review
Your task is to create a messaging app that will have a high return on investment (ROI). It is important to conduct thorough market research and develop a business strategy with possible monetization options.
A thought-out monetization approach will be able to return expenses on app development. The expenses of web development can be returned with a well-thought-out monetization strategy. The most popular monetization strategies include:
- subscription fee
- advertising
- in-app purchases
- sponsorship
10 Simple Steps to Make a Chat Application
The following is a list of ten steps you need to accomplish in order to create a chatting app and ensure its successful launch.
- Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the market and your competitors
- Identify a unique selling proposition and some specifics of your app
- Define your business goals and expectations
- Choose and hire an experienced and reliable software development vendor
- Make a list of the app’s features for the first version and another for the fully-fledged product
- Create a user-friendly chat app UX/UI design
- Be prepared to become deeply involved in the chat app development process
- Plan and launch a marketing strategy
- Test, deploy, and launch the messenger to app stores and your target market
- Connect with app users, collect feedback, and plan further app scaling and product evolution
This is a summary of an article. Check out more details and recommendations for developing a messaging app inside the complete article on the MLSDev blog.
