How to Develop an App like Instagram?

How long do you manage to stay away from checking Instagram feeds? Today, people are glued to this photo and video sharing social networking platform. According to statistics, Instagram has 500+ daily active users. 

Launched in 2012, Instagram has showcased an amazing way of attracting and retaining customers with constant updates. The most celebrated thing about this app is its quick adaptation to the latest technologies. 

From AR-enable filters to live video chats, Instagram has adopted all the latest viral features in its app. In fact, it has become a pioneer in mobile app development. Probably, this is the reason behind your interest in creating an app like Instagram. 

To be honest, it is not so tough. After all, making clones is always easy. Hence, it is recommended to initiate an idea of creating an app better than Instagram. Let us check the vital features of such mobile apps:

Must-Have Features of an App Like Instagram

Registration and Contact Sync

Safety is a major concern of social networking apps. Integrating a trusted API for sign up can be a first step towards ensuring this security. Instagram uses the API of Google as well as Facebook. You can integrate any of these API and offer your users seamless contact sync to find people easily.  

Photo Sharing

The primary function of an app like Instagram is allowing them to share photos and videos. With permission to access the gallery or device camera, you can enable your users to share videos or photos with a few clicks. 

Messenger

Social networking platforms are primarily designed for conversing with people. The messenger in such platforms holds utter importance. In fact, they are the essence of these apps. Along with providing an In-app chat and in-app calling option, it is vital to safeguard the privacy of users against strangers. 

Stories

Social networking apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are offering the option to share videos or photos as stories. These stories vanish after 24 hours. It has become one of the most crucial features of these apps in recent times. 

Push Notification 

Push notifications are the best way to ensure the interactivity of apps with users. You can notify them with updates, latest happenings, and messages. This feature plays a vital role in keeping your users glued with your app. 

Factors that Impact the Mobile App Development Cost 

MVP Features

These are the basic features that enable the users to launch a minimum viable product. Features like signup, photo sharing, and messengers are primary for creating a photo-sharing app like Instagram. These features decide the necessary expenditure on mobile app development.

Advanced Features

The AR-enabled filters, push notifications, and live chats are advanced features. You can choose to integrate them with your app if you are looking forward to making your app competitive. These features add to your overall cost and help in outshining your mobile app among competitors. 

Mobile App Development Platform

It is an important factor that impacts the cost of your app. The Android and iOS platforms are the most popular among these platforms. You should choose a platform according to your target audience. To maximize your reach, you can also go for cross-platform app development. This will allow you to target the audience on different platforms. 

Conclusion:

We can summarise that there is no single list of features or one value for the cost. They both go hand-in-hand and showcase a great dependency on each other. The more features you will decide to include while creating an app like Instagram, the more it will cost to get the mobile app development services. 

To understand your requirements and discover essential features according to your idea, you can contact a mobile app development company. Make sure they know how to build an app like Instagram with customized features. Always remember, your app’s success or failure largely depends on your ideas and decisions.