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How to Create a Video Streaming App Like Netflix?

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DhiWise

October 10, 2021
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DhiWise

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October 10, 2021
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The market for video streaming services is booming. According to the report, the global streaming industry was estimated at $38.56 billion in 2018 and is expected to hit $149.34 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 18.3% during the estimated period.

According to Statista, the US video streaming app revenue is expected to grow up to $42billion by 2025.

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Video streaming and the OTT platform have taken the internet by storm. People are more comfortable with online streaming application platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + Hulu, and Hotstar.

On the other hand, the TV/ online video streaming business has a sizable market opportunity. Here you don’t need to invest in video production, simply build an online video streaming application and improve it according to demand to make it successful.

With the growing demand for online streaming services, now is an excellent time to develop applications such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney +.

In this article, we will discuss the features of online streaming applications,  things to consider while building the video streaming app, the technology stack, and cost estimation for app development.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Important features of an online video streaming application

» Login and Registration:

Allow easy registration and login to users using email id, social media account, or a phone number along with the secure password restoration functionality.

» User Profile

A user profile allows different members of your household to have their own personalized app experience with a single account. The user profile must have a facility for parental control with a child lock. The profile contains information about the user’s activity, recently viewed episodes, and favorites.

» Account setting

Account setting allows the user to manage features, notifications, email configuration, security, and privacy. Users must be able to reset accounts and update account information.

» Subscription plan

Add an affordable subscription model with monthly, or yearly subscriptions. If possible, include a one-month free trial followed by a subscription for continuous access to content. Further, you can provide some content for free and premium content with the subscription.

» Payment gateway

The success of your business depends on the revenue generated from paid subscriptions. Thus to provide easy and fast payments, you need to add a payment gateway to your application. It is better to opt for a payment gateway that works everywhere, as your audience comes from various locations around the globe.

» Multilingual support

If you are planning to launch the application for an international audience, you must provide multi-language support for an international audience.

» Video Player

Integrate a video player that can work on multiple devices and support widely used file formats.

» Search and Filter

Users can sort content by category, genre, and other parameters, as well as search for content using keywords, using the search and filter functionality.

» Push Notification setting

Notification setting allows users to set the push notification on or off. Setting push notifications keeps you updated about the upcoming releases and favorite episodes

» Add comments

The facility to leave comments on the content allows the audience to connect with others and become more engaged with the application. It aids in increasing user retention and time spent on your application.

Other Features

Once you have launched the online video streaming application you can slowly add more features to it such as,

  1. Content suggestion logic
  2. Download content to watch later
  3. Rating and Reviews
  4. Video link sharing

» Admin Panel features

Admin panel allows admin to smoothly manage app services through the following features:

» Login - For administrators

» Content management - To manage content such as shows, movies, cover images, and descriptions.

» Analyst - To ensure that everything is going smoothly it is crucial to analyze your app performance through rating, revenue flow conversion rates, number of users, and number of downloads.

» Comment management - Including comment management in your admin panel assists you in keeping comments respectful and in accordance with platform policies.

» User management - Enables you to manage the app users. You can restrict or ban user accounts completely on app policy violations.

» Account setting - Allows you to set push notifications, schedule them for upcoming events and send them to the users who are either watching the related videos or have the particular show marked as a favorite.

» Key considerations for app development

The following are some key considerations for developing streaming service applications.

1. Excellent user Interface

Maintain an easy-to-navigate user interface, keep app UI/UX simple and intuitive, and ensure that your users can easily get what they want.

2. Support for all operating systems and devices

The video file format must be supported by multiple OS and devices.

3. Sufficient bandwidth

The video loading speed matters a lot when it comes to user experience. You may have the best content and amazing UI, but if you don’t have good loading speed then it will guarantee 100% app failure. Therefore it is important to have sufficient bandwidth for fast video streaming.

Here is the bandwidth recommendation for different connection and video quality:

  • O.5 Megabits per Second: Required for broadband connection speed.
  • 1.5 Megabits per Second: Recommended broadband connection speed.
  • 3.0 Megabits per Second: Recommended for SD quality
  • 5.0 Megabits per Second: Recommended for HD quality
  • 25 Megabits per Second: Recommended for Ultra HD quality

4. CDN Integration

To avoid downtime, integrate multiple CDN with your application. It enables users to switch between the CDN and provides uninterrupted service.

5. Variable video quality option

Variable video quality options allow users to set the video quality and also it will be changed automatically if the internet connection is slow to avoid buffering.

Technology Stack for online video streaming application

Programming Languages:

  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • Kotlin
  • Python

Libraries & Frameworks:

  • React.js- front end
  • win.js- UI Toolkit
  • Node.js- backend

Database and cloud services:

  • MySQL
  • ORACLE
  • Amazon DynamoDB
  • Amazon RDS
  • Amazon web services

How much does it cost to build an online streaming application like Netflix?

The cost of app development is determined by a variety of factors, including the number of features, technology stack, design(UI, UX), human resources, and the development time.

The cost of a video streaming application may vary depending on the aforementioned factors, while with the minimum functionality, the cost of design, development, and cloud infrastructure may cost between the range of $30,000 to $35,000 for one platform.

However, there is an additional cost associated with the security, hosting, and maintenance.

The cost of app development can be reduced by implementing cross-platform development and accelerating the app development process.

Want to know how?

A Dhiwise platform is built to empower developers to build quality web and mobile apps faster.

Role of DhiWise 

DhiWise is a ProCode platform that helps you to build scalable, maintainable, and clean code applications faster using the best technologies such as Kotlin, Node.js, Flutter, Laravel, Swift and React.js. 

It provides the following features to speed up your app development.

  • Efficient team collaboration
  • Visual programming Interface
  • Automatic source code generation
  • Supports clean code architecture
  • GitHub and GitLab  synchronization
  • API integration
  • Auto generates source code 
  • Smooth API integration
  • Firebase and Supabase integration
  • Smart Editor for code customization


Besides that, it provides you with ready-to-use app templates and screens for different use cases. And to build a video streaming app like Netflix you can use its prebuilt Movie Streaming Template

With DhiWise you can quickly create a minimal viable product(MVP) in a week. Further with the DhiWise Kotlin or Flutter app Builder, you can build cross-platform applications in less time.

Conclusion

Building an online video streaming application like Netflix is a complex task and requires effort. Furthermore, you need to take care of the features you are adding to the app. Choosing the right technology stack is critical for an efficient video streaming service.

And most importantly, it is critical for businesses to reduce the cost and time of app development while maintaining its quality.

So, try DhiWise to build your online video streaming application while reducing the cost and time of app development without compromising on quality.

What are you waiting for? Sign up today!!

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