But it can only be profitable if done right! 

When trying to replicate a social media application like Instagram, businesses must aim at combining a smooth and seamless user experience with intuitive and addictive visual-first features – photo uploads, likes, shares, comments and a never-ending feed scroll.

Below is a breakdown of what Instagram encompasses, followed by a 10-step guide on how to create a photo-sharing app like Instagram.

What Goes Into Building a Social Media Application Like Instagram?

Businesses around the world are replicating Instagram and developing apps to engage with and capture as many users as they can. Many developers have successfully built Instagram Clone Apps using technology like Flutter, React Native and Firebase; apps like Snapchat, VSCO and 500px have also taken heavy inspiration from Instagram but added their own flavor.

At its core, Instagram is more than just a photo-sharing and editing app – it is a visual storyboard. It combines actions like photo-sharing, photo editing, video uploads, user interactions, short videos, etc., under one roof and offers unparalleled quality of service. For individuals and businesses alike, Instagram is becoming one of the most profitable and adopted social media marketing tools of all time. 

Key Features of a Social Media Application Like Instagram

With a ton of features and offerings, Instagram has cracked the code of what the new-age users want. Below are some of the defining features of Instagram that every app developer should know to make an app like Instagram.

User Profiles

User profiles become the digital identity of users on any app. This forms the first level of personalization, control and affinity towards using a social media platform. With the option to add profile photos, usernames, personal bios, links, etc., users feel they own the platform and are far more comfortable with uploading photos and videos. 

When users feel they are in their own separate space, they can explore the app and its features freely. 

Social media app development companies can also enhance their custom social app by providing additional privacy features for media views, comments and shares – a replica of Instagram’s public/private toggle.

Photo and Video Uploads

Any application like Instagram, at its core, is primarily a photo/video sharing and editing app. Hence, the feature of uploading media to the platform is foremost. Any social media application like Instagram must allow users to:

• Upload new photos or videos directly from their smartphone
• Capture photos and videos directly from the app
• Upload multiple files at once

Make sure your app supports images and videos in varied formats such as .JPG, .PNG, .MP4, .MOV, etc., to engage with more content. Mobile app development companies can use cloud storage like AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, etc., for quicker and more scalable media handling.

Filters and Editing

Since its inception, Instagram filters have revolutionized the photo upload experience. Users, no matter how unique or pretty, want to visualize themselves in places and in forms that are out of this world. 

Snapchat understood this and made a filter-heavy app for its users. 

With the power to edit original photos and videos, users can engage more deeply with the application and create exceptional content. 

When developing such social media applications, users must be able to:

• Crop, rotate, resize and redesign the image or video
• Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, depth, sharpness, highlights, etc.
• Apply any desired filter from the library.

Developers can add custom filters in the mobile app, based on Instagram’s unique ones like Clarendon, Juno or Lark and use image processing libraries like PhotoEditor SDK or OpenCV to build it.

Engagement Through Likes, Comments and Shares

For social media apps like Instagram, likes, comments and shares from other users are the engines of engagement. This is how it works for Instagram, and for you if you plan to create a similar image-based social media app. When a user posts an image or a video, other users should be able to engage with the content by liking, commenting and sharing it – likes reveal real appreciation, comments initiate interactions and shares show content relevance and reach. 

Elements like likes and comment counts, use of emojis and GIFs, interaction insights, external shares, etc., should all be part of the application development process for such social media platforms. Developers should also consider implementing tools like Hive, Microsoft Azure Content Moderator, AWS Rekognition + Comprehend, Google Cloud Vision + Perspective API, etc., to prevent spam, abuse, harassment or content toxicity in the app.

Real-Time Feed Scroll

Endless scrolling through user-generated content via feed is a typical characteristic of photo-based social apps. Any application like Instagram will surely need to develop this feature – this is what makes the users stick to the app, and be motivated to not just consume but create content as well. 

Developers can choose between two feed models to offer to the users:

• Algorithmic Feed: Personalized content based on user preferences, engagements and interests
• Chronological Feed: Newest to oldest content

The content on the feed must include photos, videos, stories, status, GIFs, stickers, etc. If monetization is in the plans, sponsored content and ads would be a good inclusion. Users will need to have live updates and infinite scrolls on the apps; using tools like Firebase Realtime Database or Socket.io, developers can ensure a live feed every time.

Ephemeral Content – Stories and Status

Ephemeral content refers to those stories, status and temporary content that disappear after 24 hours. Social media applications have made it a routine to show ephemeral content – they engage more users, create a sense of FOMO, make users share content more due to limited availability and much more. Mobile application development frameworks must incorporate elements and configurations that support ephemeral content to drive more audience to user-generated posts.

Stories or status content should support images, video, GIFs, audio notes, written or text content and everything else users would want to communicate in. To make things more interesting and engaging, components like stickers, emojis, tags, mentions, polls, music, check-ins, etc., should also be available. Developers can use Cloud Functions to auto-delete past content.

In-Built Messaging

Direct messages or DMs are quite common in image-based social media apps. Users tend to connect with other users for personal interactions. This not only increases the amount of time spent on the app, but also instills social affection towards meaningful conversations. Any app trying to replicate Instagram’s messaging system must offer one-to-one private chats and group chats to share photos, videos, reactions, text messages, emojis, and other interactive elements. Developers can go a step forward by enabling advanced features like:

• Typing indicators
• Personalized stickers and emojis
• Message sent and seen status
• End-to-end encryption and data privacy
• Voice and video calling

Companies can use tools like SendBird, Twilio Chat API and Stream Chat to enable DMs in any image-based social media app.

Push Notifications

One major motivator for user engagement and retention is Push Notifications. Companies have to understand that users are not just going to sit on social media apps to check their and everyone else’s updates every day – they need relevant content and they need it to be sent to them. Push notifications enable timely alerts of updates or uploads to users who can then check out the notifications. By giving real-time pings on new likes and followers, tags, messages, story views, replies, mentions, etc., image-based social media apps can increase user affinity towards their product exponentially. Developers can use OneSignal or Firebase Cloud Messaging for Android and iOS.

Explore or Search

The ability to search, explore and find users and content has been core to social media. What to be social about if you can’t meet new people or see new things? 

Apps like Instagram must have a search feature that allows users to find people, posts, hashtags, locations and topics that they want. The aim for mobile app development companies should be to find ways to make users engage more with their app – after all, the more users explore content, the more they consume and engage with it. The search feature should be packed with:

• A discovery algorithm that brings forward relevant, trending and tailored content
• An autocomplete suggestions plug that makes search faster and more convenient.

Admin Control

Most importantly, security and control over the app are crucial. Users must be granted full access and control over all features and functionalities to ensure the app and its content remain safe, secure, and operational. Admin controls should offer features like:

• User role access
• Activity logs access
• Suspicious activity or login alert
• Content moderation
• Warn, ban, block, and report users
• Dashboard and analytics tracking for user count, crashes, top content, trending tags, etc.
• Promotional content and ads management 

Developers can utilize custom dashboards or tools like Firebase Console and Strapi to create visually stunning admin panels and establish controls.

Choosing the Right Tech Stack for Social Media Platforms like Instagram

Picking the correct tools and technology can make or break your app. As a custom mobile app development company, you want something scalable, secure, and easy to develop.

Below is a proven tech stack for building an Instagram-like app.

Building a Social Media App like Instagram: A 10-Step Guide

Step 1: Conduct Market Research and Define Niche

Before diving into the app development process, understand the market dynamics completely to avoid any prior losses; it is impossible to decide and choose how to make a social networking app like Instagram without understanding the current market situation of image or photo-based applications. 

Market research is the best way to understand what kind of audience you are dealing with. Try and ask yourself the following questions when conducting market research:

• Where and how will you launch your app?
• Who are your Competitors?
• How do users interact with your competitors?
• What features do the users like and dislike?
• What niche audience are you targeting?
• What unique pain points will your app solve?
• What are the demographics of similar apps?

Start with conducting surveys and polls and analyzing app store reviews and comments. This will help developers bridge gaps between features that still exist. By answering these questions, companies will be able to have a clear understanding of what they need to build an app as appealing and lovable as Instagram.

Step 2: Decide Core Features

Once you are done with the market research and know what your users will love, it is time to finalize the features of the app. At its core, for any app to be inspired by Instagram, it has to be a mix of content sharing, content discovery and networking. Be it a beta solution or an MVP, Instagram-like apps should include features like:

• User registration, profile creation and management
• Content upload (text, photo, video, etc.)
• Infinite news feed
• Likes, comments, shares – engagement hooks
• Search, explore and hashtags
• Reels, stories, short videos
• Messages
• Notifications
• Filters

With the correct features, app development companies can target and acquire authentic users and streamline further dependencies. 

Step 3: The Right Tech

As mentioned above, choosing the right tech stack is essential for mobile app development for apps like Instagram – these apps need to process and handle a huge amount of data, all while keeping the app secure and the performance high. As crucial as features are, choosing the right technology stack is not far behind. Every project, every product, the expectations, the features, all are different and copying Instagram’s tech won’t cut the queue for developers. React Native and Flutter both can be avenues to develop mobile apps, depending on what the stakeholders aim at. Refer to the table above to choose your appropriate tech stack.

Step 4: Design a User-Centric UI/UX

In a time when users buy what they see, creating a user-first design approach is of the essence. In mobile app development, companies cannot undermine the importance of app design – creating an intuitive and clean interface, much like Instagram, can go a long way. Developers need to focus on both the User Interface (UI) and the User Experience (UX) to define the visual representation of the app, as well as the user flows and how users interact with and navigate through it, respectively.

To build a UI/UX like Instagram, custom mobile app development companies should focus on:

• Minimalist design
• User-focused features
• Visual-first layout
• Easy navigation
• Smooth transitions, animations

Developers can use tools like Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, etc. to build phenomenal UI/UX. When designing for iOS and Android, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design Guidelines.

Step 5: The App Development Process

After you have finalized the top features that you are going to implement and the appropriate tech stack, it is time for the real deal – mobile app development. This is where great design meets exceptional coding, turning visualization into an interactive design. 

To create an app like Instagram, developers need to work on both the frontend and the backend development. Though they may seem similar at first, frontend and backend cater to two very different aspects of the development process – the frontend helps in building what the users see and interact with, whereas the backend serves as the engine that powers everything from under the hood. 

Developers need to follow agile development practices such as sprint-based development cycles, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) and version control platforms like Git. Tools like Jira and Trello are heavily used for sprint planning; developers can team Jira with Slack (for communication) and Figma (for designs) to create seamless and shared workboards that keep the processes on track. It is also recommended to segregate the development cycle into phases, such as:

• Authentication
• Media uploading
• Feed algorithms
• Chat system
• Admin dashboard

For your help, here are the top frontend frameworks you can use for your website.

Step 6: Cloud Storage Integration and Media Optimization

Image-based social media apps like Instagram rely heavily on the use and storage of media in the form of photos, videos, stickers, GIFs and more. This data takes a lot of storage space and bandwidth, often hindering performance if not attended to. Developers must keep in mind the ways they can optimize content and its storage – they can use AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage for file storage, FFmpeg for video compression, ImageKit or Cloudinary for image optimization. This, nonetheless, ensures a faster app loading and a smoother and cleaner user experience.

Step 7: Implement Security and Privacy

When developing social media platforms, you are dealing with millions of user-generated data points. Security in such apps has become a great concern that influences their usage, reach and potential. Being as non-negotiable as the app itself, social app security is something companies would want to consider from Day 1.

During the development process, ensure your social media app has:

• End-to-end encryption for messages
• Two-factor authentication
• GDPR Compliance
• Secure APIs with OAuth 2.0

With these in place, the app can build more trust among the users and increase its chances of adoption.

Step 8: Test Out Your App

Testing an app before launch is one of the most essential steps to follow. Run your app via the QA modules to understand how the features and functionalities work. With this initial feedback, developers can understand what to change, modify or remove altogether. QA testing should cover areas like:

• Functional testing
• UI/UX testing
• Performance testing
• Security and penetration testing
• Device/browser compatibility

Tools like Selenium, Appium, TestFlight, Firebase Test Lab, etc., can be used to test the mobile app in relevant environments.

Step 9: Launch MVP for Feedback

Once you are done and satisfied with your app testing, it is time for you to bring the app to the market. Build and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that has the core features of the app. Let users and stakeholders test and use the product – this provides valuable and real human reactions and patterns. Implement A/B testing for new features and use analytics to decipher the trends and user preferences. Use this data to further refine the app functionalities and iterate based on the usage patterns. 

Step 10: Scale and Monetize

Congratulations. Your app is ready and available to your customers. Thousands use it and they love what they see. But what’s next? Once you have built your perfect social media application like Instagram, it’s not time to sit idle. Think of methods to scale your app and monetize it to drive increased usage and revenue. 

For scaling, developers can use the microservices architecture that enables them an independent development, auto-scaling servers for automatic allocation and CDN and caching for app functionality. To monetize the app, developers can implement promotional and sponsored content, ads, in-app purchases, a freemium pricing model with premium features, influencer-brand connections and e-commerce integration.

Final Thoughts

Building an app like Instagram is an ambitious yet achievable goal with the right strategy, team, and technology. By following the abovementioned steps and best practices, companies can ensure a well-thought-out mobile app development process and streamline their operations. 

Unified Infotech is a pioneer in mobile and web app development with over 15 years of experience in the domain. If you want to build an app like Instagram, feel free to connect with us and share your vision. From seamless consulting and project understanding to streamlined delivery, we ensure your app is built and functions the way you want to.  

Looking to create a social platform like Instagram and disrupt the visual-sharing landscape, contact us today and witness how we can bring your dreams into reality.

The post How to Build an App like Instagram – Comprehensive Features and a 10-Step Guide appeared first on Unified Infotech.

Whether you are a new entrepreneur, or an experienced businessman, wireframing is something you’ve heard of. It is the basic rough sketch made before the product goes in for complete design and development.

But is that all there is to wireframing?

When it comes to achieving the client’s design dreams, a product design wireframe is the first step we take. And we can tell from experience that wireframing is not just a basic rough sketch. So what more is it? Let’s explore!

1. What Is Wireframe Design?

The static skeletal foundation, a.k.a wireframes are the base of any creative design operation. The barebone versions of platform UI helps designers & developers to understand some key factors. These factors include but are not limited to- core functionality, features, basic navigation flow, and the overall impact of the idea on the end-user.

It is a popular opinion that the wireframe design process is not detail-oriented, but that is not true. When it comes to this specific process, the devil lies in the right details. It is a process that deals with the visual aspect of the entire process. And that’s why designers must pay attention to user needs and journey-related information.

Having the users in mind from the very beginning helps us to create an impactful design. Our skilled team of designers uses this part of modern web design to determine the navigation flow of the platform. In doing so, we can examine the user flow within the platform from very early on. The black & white framework, made with simple boxes and lines represents design elements and content hierarchy. It is the perfect way of getting client approval on the design concept before beginning the process.

2. Why Is Wireframing A Must?

Surely the design process for your business platform can proceed without wireframing. So why is it an essential element practiced by almost every modern web design company?

There are many benefits of this simple method. And these benefits make wireframing a vital part of design success. So let us list out a few reasons why we think it is important to design app wireframes before development.

A. Provides A Solid Design Foundation

Having a well-defined material design wireframe gives our designers a solid foundation to work on. The wireframe blueprint assists us to recognize the core functionality of the platform, and design an impactful UI that matches its purpose.

B. Helps Gather Feedback & Implement Them

During our kick-off & analytical stage, we use UI/UX design wireframes to gather valuable client opinions. This feedback gives us deeper insight into our client’s requirements and enables us to build a better platform.

C. Reduces The Chance Of Costly Redesign

A client-approved landing page wireframe design works as the perfect guide to creating designs that are impactful for a long time. And that’s why we use this step to ensure the clients don’t have to go through a costly redesign process later on.

D. Increases Functional Efficiency From An Early Stage

Software design wireframes help us to map out the navigational flow, which in turn improves the overall functional efficiency of the platform. With this step, we ensure that the consumers find the necessary information on the platform easily.

3. A Step-By-Step Look The Types Of Wireframes

Based on the detailing, we can distinguish three different kinds of wireframe design-

• Low-fidelity
• Mid fidelity
• High fidelity

Let’s see what each of these include-

A. Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Low-fidelity wireframes outline what the basic interface looks like. These rough sketches, mostly done with pen and paper, help to begin the design conversation between the clients and the designers.

As rough sketches, this kind of user experience design wireframes lacks the image and color element. Low-fidelity frameworks are used to understand and map out the interface, as well as the user flow from one page to another. It also helps to decide quickly between multiple design concepts. In brief, low-fidelity wireframing is where all web development company begin work.

B. Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

Mid-fidelity wireframe web designs are a bit higher in quality. These are interface frameworks without the final branding elements. With mid-fidelity frameworks, the clients get an understanding of how the final design would look like.

With mid-fidelity wireframes, designers can try out different styles of content hierarchy. These frameworks use darker shades to emphasize different types of content. It is the digitized version of low-fidelity wireframes that helps to finalize the framework before the design components are added.

C. High-Fidelity Wireframes

High-fidelity frameworks include all the suggestions and changes conveyed in the earlier steps. It is one of the most important steps to design a website. And that’s why high-fidelity frameworks include necessary design & branding elements such as images, fonts, and colors.

The type of content on high-fidelity wireframes might vary from filler content to relevant content. However, the font sizes and style of this framework represent the actual IA that’ll be present on the business platform.

The three levels of the wireframe design process must be followed to craft an empowering design. Missing one might cause certain problems for the next stage. So ensure that the partner web design agency follows all the steps before beginning development.

4. How To Make A Wireframe: The Best Practices We Follow

Considering all its perks, wireframe design happens to be one of the most prioritized parts of our process. The in-house experts use wireframing to begin the discussion with our clients, flesh out design concepts, and finalize the visual layout before beginning development.

However, it is not easy to create wireframes for websites & custom software development purposes. And that’s why we follow some of the most important best practices while creating the visual blueprint for your website. So let us talk about those best practices and why we practice them.

A. Imbibe Clarity

One of the main purposes of wireframes is to imbibe clarity in the modern web design process. From setting clear expectations to clarifying the visual layout of the interface- we follow this best practice to ensure the impact of wireframing on the entire process.

It is also the time when we try to clear out any and every query both clients and our design team might have. From the design approach embraced by us to the specific visual impact, the clients are looking for all the questions are answered during this stage.

B. Empower Users With Confidence

We believe that a good design empowers the users. And that’s why we begin with a familiar and intentional navigational approach from the very beginning of the wireframing method.

By implementing a user flow that is familiar to users, we lower the learning curve. While planning the wireframes of the core pages, such as the home page or contact pages, we frame the content and place buttons on the familiar and easy to spot for enhanced navigation. This way, before the website development process has even finished, we begin to empower the end-users.

C. Keep It Simple

Wireframes are the skeleton version of the UI. And that’s why we focus on keeping it simple. Rather than integrating too many details from the beginning, we start with a barebones version.

We begin wireframe design with a complete paper prototype that hashes out the very basic layout. Then we move onto mid-fidelity wireframes that are detailed enough to understand how the basic hierarchy and elements would look like. Unlike the final stage of the high-fi framework, these two steps focus solely on the placement of the visual element, nothing else.

D. Consider Screen Sizes

No matter what kind of business platform it is, screen size is something we must pay attention to. Our agile web design process begins with a mobile-first approach. The in-house design team creates wireframes for all supported devices and then considers how the content will scale based on the screen.

E. Think Of Different User Scenarios

One platform might have multiple user scenarios. Every individual experience the same platform in a different manner. And that’s why we examine all possible user scenarios while thinking about how to create wireframes.

Such user scenarios include but are not limited to- which access points the user entered the page from, what users are looking for based on the demographic details, what device they are using, etc. Examining these user scenarios helps us to craft improved layouts and navigational elements.

F. Conduct Research

One of the main best practices we follow is the research-based approach. Outlining a wireframe is not a simple task, and to ensure success, we need to have a clear understanding of the core functionality of the platform, basic features, as well as the users and their pain points.

To get a clear idea about all these, we begin with in-depth research. Covering all the necessary bases, we can integrate the essential elements of knowledge in planning the layout. The result: faster wireframe design & approval process.

G. Use Annotations For Clear Communications

The wireframe prototype design is an effective yet challenging process. The major challenge at this stage is the clarity of communication. The lack of relevant branding/visual elements within the wireframe often confuses the clients about the result. And to solve this, we make use of annotations within the framework.

The short notes provide important descriptions of the features functionalities, user flow, etc. With eye-catching and numbered notes, we aim to clarify any kind of miscommunication from the beginning.

H. Increase Wireframe Fidelity Slowly

The gradual improvements made to the wireframe design help us to focus on one thing at a time. In the low-fi stage, we focus on crafting the basic layout of the platform. The mid-fidelity stage is when we try to fix the content hierarchy issues. And hi-fi stage is when we implement the branding elements to see how the platform will look like.

This step-by-step improvement ensures that the process is focused, and not all over the place. Each stage has its purpose and the incremental enhancements ensure no detail is forgotten.

5. Common Wireframing Challenges & How We Deal With Them!

Even this simple process comes with plenty of trials. Here are some of the most common difficulties we meet while creating wireframes and how we deal with those challenges.

A. The Eternal Debate Of Polished Vs. Rough Sketch

The first challenge deals with making changes to the web development process.

The well-known laws of UI/UX dictate that we must always present the polished wireframe to the clients. However, experience has taught us something else. We have seen that presenting a too polished wireframe makes the clients more reluctant to suggest changes. Perhaps because they like it the way it is, or maybe because they feel that the design is finalized. In any case, it causes some serious issues in the later stages of design.

With a three-step website wireframe design, we bypass this issue altogether. This way, the clients don’t feel too pressured to agree to the pixel-perfect framework and suggest changes freely. And we use those feedback and gradually improve upon the wireframe- from paper prototypes, to mid and then hi-fi frameworks.

B. Which Pages To Wireframe?

Wireframe UX design may be a necessary element. But at the same time, it is important to determine for which pages we must design the wireframes. We cannot make wireframes for every page on the website. And that’s why we begin by making up wireframes for the most important pages first.

Based on the client’s needs, we prioritize different pages/screens of the platform and craft wireframes for them first. And then based on the information hierarchy of these pages, we proceed with the rest of the website.

C. Text Placeholders & The Problems They Pose

Text placeholders, such as Lorem ipsum are an easy enough solution to understand on-screen text placement. But it is not a long-term solution. In fact, using text placeholders causes more problems in terms of content space and wireframe navigation design.

And that’s why we include relevant text during the wireframing process from the start. This practice assists to grasp how much space a specific text will require and design accordingly.

Don’t Skip Wireframes: They Are The Blueprints Of Your Design Dreams

Wireframes are an essential part of the agile web design process. With this, entrepreneurs, designers, and developers can visualize the product together, determine its various aspects as well as make all the changes it needs in the very beginning. And that’s why you need a UI/UX partner who would never skip this crucial step of the design operation.

Have more questions about design and wireframing? Why not let us know? Our experts are ready to answer all your questions.

The post Wireframe Design: The Unsung Hero Of The Design Process? appeared first on Unified Infotech.