Social media app development guide

The article is a part of Code Inspiration’s software development outsourcing Knowledge Base.

It is quite difficult today to imagine a user of the World Wide Web who is not familiar with the social sphere. From simple interpersonal communication and romantic dating, to commercial and promotional activities, using these resources, anyone can cover their needs in a particular area.

The popularity and level of attendance of social networks today is so high that any sensible advertiser aims to become a prominent figure in this economically attractive field of online commerce.

The abundance of social networks and services allows you to attract visitors with any thematic tastes and preferences. Whether it is a simple Internet user or an entrepreneur who understands the importance of the Internet for modern business, everyone can find their niche.

What is required to build a social media app?

It will sound corny, but study the market. Study the applications of your competitors to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Learn as much as you can about their users, what they like and don’t like in these applications and what you can offer them in return.

1. Determine your target audience by age, demography, location, etc. Identify clearly, what are their needs. This will help to give a more accurate assessment of the project’s future.
2. Decide what to prioritize: localization or multilingual support.
3. Choose a platform to start: iOS or Android? Or you need both? Will it be a native or a hybrid app?
4. Another thing you have to do is to decide on the type of application. Will it be a local social enterprise application or an application for teenagers and students? Or you have chosen to develop dating app? Or maybe you are planning to create a social application for those who are looking for work? Well, it can be anything from a small application for close friends to a world hero of social networks like Twitter or Tumblr.
5. Highlight all the key features that you plan to include into your application, and what services you will provide to users. It would also be a good idea to invent a memorable name for your application along with a bright and recognizable icon.
6. Submit your project to the development by a reputable software development company. From now on, let the professionals do everything. They will “assemble” your application, develop all the necessary documents, test the application for bugs and fix them.

One more important thing to think over first is to consider the development of an MVP first. Model the execution of basic functions, develop the MVP of your application, launch and promote it. The development of an MVP — minimum viable product – in some cases can save up your time, money and efforts you could have spent on the full-version application, which in the end may turn out to be not useful to anyone. Once you see the first positive reviews about your product, you can start to plan the future strategy – will be able to determine whether it is necessary to do spot improvement or change the concept as a whole. MVP will cost much less than a complete application and at the same time will include all the main features and functions that will reflect the basic idea of your product.

Heed to the opinions of your users and engage them in the development process at its early stages. Increase the number of users by interacting with them. Show your audience that their opinion is important to you. They should see that you are trying to create a product that meets their needs. Make significant efforts to actively promote your application, e.g. by means of conducting a marketing campaign.

At this early stage, analysis is of great importance. So, don’t forget to add analytical tools to your social media app development. You need them to gather important information that will help you to see exactly how people use your product, how much time they spend on it, and if they remove the application, then why.

Privacy policy, as well as terms of use should be well-thought. Let your users know that you are ready to protect them against account hacking and data theft. They need to be sure that they are safe in your application. Only then will they stay with you, and will recommend the product to other users.

Please don’t forget about the rules of publishing the apps in the application stores. It would be wise to study them in advance in order not to be rejected on publishing the application, or make sure the development team you work with will provide you with support on this issue.

Integral social media app features

In general, an application that attracts users and helps its creator to get income should consist of the following components:

• Attractive and appropriate UI/UX design.
• User registration and full data protection (using built-in services for secure private communication).
• Individual profiles (a biography that reflects interests, hobbies, food preferences, avatars, education, nicknames, status, theme settings for creating a unique style, content and type of profile, etc.).
• One of the most necessary functions that social networks offer is communication, that’s why implementation of chatting functionality is a must.
• The feature of adding friends and advanced search for friends or those with whom you have common interests.
• Authorization through social networks (Facebook or Google+) and social integration with other media resources.
• Indicator of the presence in the network of other users, ability to view their profiles.
• Event management and calendar synchronization.
• Account management and admin panel.
• Chatting functionality, videochats.
• The feature of content sharing.
• Search filters (location, gender, interests, jobs, or any other information related to the profile). Payment system and monetization.
• Synchronization with cloud services (user files).
• Backend server (REST API) and offline backup.

Top Social Networking App Development Companies

Learn from Code Inspiration’s experience

Surely, there can be lots of pieces of advice that may give you a hint on how to make a social media app. Still, each project is unique and may contain a wide range of peculiarities you might not even think of. Thus, why not leave it for the competence of a professional software development team? A strong belief of Code Inspiration’s team is that a good idea, our expert-level staff and advanced experience are the necessary components to launch your successful project. Don’t hesitate to contact us now and learn more what we can do for you to create a social media site and become your reliable software development partner.

The article is a part of Code Inspiration’s software development outsourcing Knowledge Base.