Gone are the days when people used conference calling to communicate with their friends seamlessly. With the introduction of more digitized platforms, video calling became a global platform for communication. People could seamlessly connect and could talk face-to-face for hours using the powerful video calling platform. Since almost all the people today have smartphones, more and more companies are launching their video-calling app in the global market. According to sources, the global downloads of video calling apps witnessed an upsurge of more than 100% in March 2020.
Clearly, video calling applications became a need from a trend. And while talking about video calling apps, Houseparty is a top trending group video-chat app that is becoming popular amongst all. Houseparty is an interactive video-calling app that enables the user to chat with their friends and family members seamlessly. It offers an extensive range of mind-boggling features for all its users, including the office-workers. Let’s dive in deeper to learn more about this powerful app.
What is Houseparty, and how does it work?
As discussed earlier, Houseparty is a powerful video calling application that enables its users to chat seamlessly with their friends and family members. The user can conveniently connect with its near ones and can even play online games with them by leveraging one of the features of the app. Besides that, the Houseparty app also enables its users to create a private virtual room so that they can connect with specific people in person. Because of such great functionalities, the Houseparty app has gained a user base of approx 20 million during recent times.
While you may be thinking that the Houseparty app only has video calling functionality, then wait, there’s more! With the Houseparty app, the users can seamlessly organize virtual parties and can add their friends to it. Not only that, but the app also enables the user to play online games with their friends without actually downloading the game. Now that’s something amazing!
All the functionalities mentioned above made Houseparty a popular app in the video calling stream. And this sudden popularity of Houseparty lured many marketers into investing in the video calling app like Houseparty. Let’s have a look at some of the popular video calling apps like Houseparty, which are trending in the global market.
Popular Video-calling Apps Trending in the Market
1. Zoom
Zoom is a powerful video-calling app that is gaining momentum these days. Zoom app is trending in the global market due to its user-friendly interface and powerful functionalities. It is being used by education institutes and many other corporate sectors to conduct meetings, and conferences, and to deliver online lectures to the students. With the Zoom app, the user can stay connected with a vast number of people seamlessly. Besides that, the user can even share his/her mobile screen to provide access to their photos, Google drive, and web to its fellow mates.
Available For: Android and iOS
2. Skype
Skype is, without a doubt, one of the leading video calling apps available in the global market. It is widely used by almost all the organizations and other sectors of the global world to organize meetings and conferences. Not only that, but the user can even share all sorts of files ranging from pictures and videos to documents and even contacts via this robust platform. Skype also offers low-cost calling and texting features to all of its users and even helps in online group video calls.
Available For: Android and iOS
3. Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is an old yet popular video conferencing tool that is used by many of the users of the global world. It is a universal messenger app for Google+, Gmail, Android, and iOS users. The user can seamlessly make audio/video calls, share files, and can even stream real-time videos by leveraging the app. Not only that, but you can also talk to ten people at the same time using the Google Hangouts app.
Available For: Android and iOS
4. Apple Facetime
A unique and powerful mobile app, Apple Facetime, is built specifically for iOS users. It is a free audio and video calling mobile app through which the users can connect with other iOS users seamlessly. Not only that, but the user can start a call on one of the iOS devices and can continue on other devices conveniently. Moreover, you can even record the calls and can send them seamlessly over WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Available For: iOS
5. Facebook Messenger
Facebook is, without a doubt, the most popular social networking site available in the global market. Facebook messenger is also an integral part of Facebook that enables the user to communicate efficiently. The user can send text messages or can make audio or video calls to another Facebook user seamlessly using the platform. Although there are no charges for making the calls, the user needs to incur the internet charges. However, unlike other video calling apps, the Facebook messenger does not offer group calling functionality.
Available For: Android and iOS
So, these were some of the popular video calling apps that have made a significant impact on the global market. So, if you are also thinking of investing in a project that can yield you good returns, then investing in a video calling app is a perfect solution for you. But how can you develop a video calling app that satisfies every need of your business and your users? Let’s discuss it!
How to Develop a Video Calling App like Houseparty?
Now that you are convinced to develop a video calling app like Houseparty let’s quickly discuss some crucial points that should be considered during the development process.
1. Identify Your Target Audience
The first and foremost aspect during the mobile app development phase is to know your target audience. You need to identify the most appropriate audience from the groups present in the global market, viz. Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z., you need to understand which group you are planning to target as that will define your future marketing strategies and the various other aspects of your app. You can start that by conducting multiple surveys that will cover the essential questions relevant to your mobile application.
2. Select the Suitable Platform
After critically analyzing your target audience, the next step is to select an appropriate development platform viz. Android, iOS, Windows, and so on. For that, you can leverage the statistics that are available on the global platform. Also, you can eventually run a survey to find the number of users of different OS. You will then get an idea of which platform to choose. However, most of the marketers go for cross-app development to target more number of users.
3. Know your Competitors
The next crucial step is to know your competitors. You need to have an idea of all your competitors, their strategies, and their products. Finding a competitor is not a difficult task, but knowing their strategy, and the reasons behind their popularity are something that is not a piece of cake. So, for that, you can start by asking several questions to the common users like, which video calling app do they use, what features do they like in that app, which features are not relevant, and so on. You will then have an idea about the strategy to outgrow your competitors efficiently.
4. Include the Essential Features
After critically analyzing your competitors, the next step is to include all the relevant features that will help you build success for your app in the global market. To make your work easier, we have listed some of the top features of the video calling app that you can introduce to your mobile app.
Admin Panel
- Dashboard
An intuitive dashboard functionality that gives you every critical information about your users and market trends.
- Authentication
You can seamlessly authenticate the user’s account by sending a one-time password and then verifying it later.
- User Management
You can add or remove any unauthenticated user seamlessly during any instance of time.
- Marketing Campaigns
You can efficiently manage all your marketing campaigns to improve your sales and to inform users about new features.
- Push Notifications
The admins can update all the users about the change in policy or can notify them about new updates through this robust functionality.
- Discount Coupons
You can seamlessly manage all the offers and discounts for the application users and guide them to use the same.
- Reviews and Feedbacks
The admins can improve the functionality of their video calling app by considering all the reviews and feedback of the users.
User Panel
- Login/Registration
Enable your users to log in or register seamlessly using their basic minimal details like name, email ID, password, etc.
- Contact Management
Your users can seamlessly manage their contacts over the mobile application using this robust functionality.
- Instant Messaging
An amazing functionality that offers your users to communicate with each other via text messaging.
- Audio/Video Calling
The users can also connect through audio/video calling functionality and can even share documents and other media files seamlessly over the platform.
- Emojis and GIFs
Interactive and user-engaging emojis and GIFs to keep your users engaged and enhance your texting feature.
- Group Creation
Your users can create groups consisting of large numbers of other users of your app and can enjoy group calling and chat options via this feature.
- Block Functionality
If any user finds any other user suspicious, then he/she can instantly block them from their contact list using this feature of the app.
- Refer and Review
Last but not least, the user can provide his/her valuable feedback and reviews and can even refer their friends using this feature.
5. Hire the Perfect Developers
Hiring the perfect developers is undoubtedly the most vital step in the mobile app development phase. You need to hire a dedicated team for developing your video calling mobile application. For that, you have two choices, either hire an in-house development team or outsource an experienced mobile app development company. Each has its benefits, but outsourcing a mobile app development company has its perks. An experienced mobile app development company will be well aware of all the challenges that would come during the development process and would also have solutions to those problems. Still, if you want to know more, then you can read our article here stating the benefits of outsourcing a mobile app development company.
5. Test and Deploy
The last stage of the mobile app development process is to test and deploy your mobile app in the global market. You need to check your mobile app, including every functionality efficiently, to make sure that it does not hinders your business reputation. Also, before deploying your app, you need to market your app well on the social media platform.
Some Critical Aspects to Consider
1. UI/UX
Apart from considering all the development issues and vital aspects, you also need to consider the UI/UX part during the development of your video calling app. User-friendliness is the most crucial aspect that you need to take care of ducting the mobile app development process. You need to keep your interface interactive and should keep your front-end as engaging and straightforward as possible. Besides that, you also need to ensure that your app features are easily accessible by your users. That will not only enhance your customer services but will also help you to attract more users.
2. Security
Security is the next big issue that is necessary to consider while developing your video calling app. You need to understand that the calling app will hold all the vital contacts and other crucial information of your users. So, you need to ensure that all their data always remains safe and secure. For that, you can opt for specific models like two-phase authentication, blockchain technology, etc.
3. Business Models
Apart from including all the vital features in your mobile application, you also need to consider a business model that can help you generate more revenue for your business. Marketers are using various business models, and each of them varies significantly. Below listed are some of the common business models that you could leverage for generating more revenue from your mobile application.
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Using Advertisements
You could advertise certain ads on your mobile app of different companies and organizations. The charges for promoting these apps will depend on their ad size and market value of that company.
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Using the Freemium Model
Apart from advertising other third-party apps, you can also go for a freemium model of your mobile application. Meaning, you can introduce some of the basic features for free to all your users and could add the rest of the advanced functionality into the paid-version of your video calling app.
What is the Cost to Develop an App like Houseparty?
Like any other on-demand application, the cost of developing a video calling app depends on several crucial factors. To name a few, we have:
1. Development cost
2. UI/UX cost
3. Testing Cost
4. Project Management Cost
To get an accurate estimate of your mobile app development, you can contact us. We will always guide you in the best possible way!
Let’s Build a Video Calling App!
In this fast-changing world, you need to adapt to the latest technological advancements and digital platforms, as that’s the only way to survive efficiently in today’s modern world. We, at Matellio, can help you with that. You can leverage our cost-effective and scalable software solutions and mobile applications to enrich your business operations and to outgrow your competitors seamlessly. Our expert developers and certified engineers ensure a smooth and efficient development process, and our experienced testers take care that nothing hampers your business growth. You can contact us anytime to get your product developed.
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