Rushabh PatelA few years ago, we did not envision an app, like that of Instagram. However, today, Instagram has achieved the highest level of success. It has turned out to be one of the undisputed rulers in the world of social media. This success has inspired the dedicated app developers to develop a mobile app, similar to Instagram
Moreover, businesses all over the world have also thought of investing in a custom app that has similar features present on Instagram.
Leading countries based on the number of Instagram users as of October 2019
Source: Statisa
Mobile app development, by integrating Instagram features
Admittedly, it took several years and a high amount of dollars for designing the original Instagram app. Now, for cloning this app, the developers may take a shorter time. They will need a few weeks to develop an Instagram-like app. Most of the mobile application developers charge you based on the time required for developing the app.
Instagram has constantly updated its app and integrated different features while maintaining an intuitive User Interface. Thus, for creating and adding those features to your custom app, the developers need various timeframes. We have now analyzed these features and estimated the duration to help you in calculating the cost.
Creating MVP for mobile app
Instagram works smoothly on both Android and iOS platforms. For developing similar types of image-sharing or video-sharing app, you have to create a Minimum Viable Product. It is the primary app version, integrated with features for pleasing various users. You may find several similar apps, and it is essential to create the app MVP for analyzing the performance and market conditions. The mobile app development company may also introduce the MVP as the landing page or demo version.
The major target of the developers is not to create an entirely copied product. There’s no need to add Instagram Lite, IGTV, and other latest Instagram features.
Incorporating the feature- Account Authorization
One crucial step for developing an Instagram-like app or other social media networks is to include the feature- Account Authorization. It helps in maintaining the privacy of user data.
Users will get options for creating a new social media account. They may also log in to the app by using their mobile number or email. Other features relevant to it are password recovery, password reset, and 2-factor authentication to identify the unrecognized devices.
Besides, the app has to save the user data on its backend. Hence, users have to enter the right data while maintaining the privacy of usernames and passwords. This Account Authorization setup process may cover 70 hours to get accomplished.
Profile adjustment- Creating and editing the details
After Account Authorization, the developers think of designing the profile creation feature for mobile app users. With this feature, the users can make their new profile and edit it for displaying the profile picture, name, and other detail.
To make this process successful, the programmers create contact between the server-side and client-side of the application. For this development step, the developers may need 50 hours.
Messaging feature for your app
Real-time messaging is one of the most common of social media, including Instagram. The users receive notification of the recent message. The best app server does not have a crashing issue for the constant outgoing and incoming message through API.
To integrate this notification feature, the developers link the app with the iOS and Android servers. They may also use GCM or APN to do it. For the overall process, the developers will take 100 to 120 hours.
Uploading and managing the videos and photos
Instagram has designed a special interface for sharing videos and photos with others. Thus, to design an interesting and interactive app interface for media file sharing, the developers may need 70 to 100 hours.
The image editing feature is also interesting to the app, and by using it, the users will be able to display their creativity. They can edit the images based on their preferences. To deal with the backend of the app, the developers have two different options- They can use the standard file or create a unique file.
Connectivity to other social networks
Your app is social media, and it would enable you to connect with other different social platforms for reaching more audiences. The phone and video sharing opportunities facilitate the interaction of users with various social media apps.
That is why the mobile app developer gives you an option to link with users, present on other social networks. The users may create a link to account IDs of different social media apps. Most of the programs take 10 hours to add this feature.
Location-sharing feature
It is another innovative feature, helping the users to share the present location. You can mention the location with their photos and videos. Thus, the friends in the nearby location will be able to join them.
For activating this feature, the developers rely on the API. However, they take different approaches for iOS and Android. Android app developers choose MapView class service and Android.location package, whereas iOS developers use Map Kit and CLLocationManager Class.
Furthermore, a sensor plays a role in sending the data to the frontend and then to the backend. Thus, the app has to get user permission for data transmission. The server receives the data and stores it.
The overall duration for the development and integration of this Geo-location system is almost 24 hours. It is much time-consuming to deal with this feature.
Search Feature
Instagram has an option to enable its users to look for friends, groups, and relatives. You may ask your developer to integrate this type of feature. Your app users will be able to join any social group with the use of this search feature. This app has a backend server to make this feature work effectively. Furthermore, the overall time for the integration of this feature is 60 hours.
Additional features and other settings
Activation and deactivation of push notifications, language settings, account privacy settings, and restrictions to friend requests- these are some common additional features, making your app unique and more functional. For adding push notification, the developers connect your app server to your Google or Apple server. Thus, the developers take different steps for the integration of features. Based on the choice of your features, the process can cover 70 to 80 hours. The addition of more features can result in an increase in cost.
In addition to the number of app features, there are other factors, affecting the Instagram-like app development cost-
- Intricacy level of the features
- Details of the design
- Number of the mobile operating system, where the app will perform
- Capabilities of developers
- Choice of technology
Technologies for frontend development
- AngularJS, HTML or CSS for creating admin panel
- Swift for iOS app
Technologies for backend development
- Ruby or Ruby-on-Rails
- Amazon Web Services and other Cloud servers
The common integrations for social media app development
- Google Maps and Instagram API
- Facebook SDK
How much does it cost to create Instagram?
We have outlined the way in which you can calculate the cost for social media app, similar to Instagram. It is clearly impossible to clone Instagram exactly, especially without the necessary monetary resources, skilled developers, and effective management. Price for a mobile app development varies due to these and more factors:
- Number of features
- Complexity of features
- Design specifics
- Number of platforms and operating system details
- Technology preferences
- Development team capabilities & rates
- Project management, etc.
It is difficult to determine the actual cost and time to develop an app like Instagram. The range could even extend from $5,000-5,000,000. Instagram got its initial funding of $500,000 to build the first product version. The project received $57,500, 000 in total and ten investors. You surely get the gist of how much it cost to create the Instagram app. Our expert app developers have wide experience in building photo-sharing and social networking mobile apps, as well as projects similar to Instagram in functionality. Even though some features may be similar, the app concepts have differed and were unique.
