Several businesses have been inspired by the success of Instagram. It resulted in the appearance of other well-known photo-sharing apps like Snapchat, Vine, Flickr, etc. All of those apps make use of photo and video content which may vary in their functionality and core value. Once the uniqueness is found, there is a potential business scope in photo-sharing apps. But to make a social media app like Instagram simply making a clone won’t give any desirable result. Besides, it takes a lot of time and money to even copy the platform.

In this article, we will discuss the things to consider while developing an app like Instagram.

To begin with, it is very important to have a lot of planning and preparatory work to develop any kind of mobile app. In the case of photo-sharing apps like Instagram the following steps are needed to be considered:

• Define the target audience and their preferences by conducting market research
• Assess with other photo-sharing apps available in the market
• Create and confirm a unique app concept
• Decide the future strategies like goals, budget, deadline, and technologies to apply
• Formulate marketing and PR strategy and start promotion from the earliest stages
• Create communication channels with the users to get up-to-date feedbacks
• Choose a top-rated social media app development company in New York, USA to design, develop, test, and launch the app.
• Evolve the project further with additional functionality, design elements, and sprawl to new user groups.

Any photo-sharing app development requires a considerable investment and by creating one you not only want to implement your ideas successfully, but you want to make money out of it as well. Here are three widely used and most appropriate ways to monetize your app:

1. Sponsorship and advertisements
2. In-app purchases
3. Proposing extraordinary deals to dynamic users

Once you have all the preparatory resources ready, start building the social media app from its basic version. The first version should be equipped with the core functionality and the uniqueness should be in the features, concept, design, and branding which would be responsible to distinguish your app from the others already available in the market. Keep the following features in mind:

• Spontaneous user-navigation
• Clear designs of UX/UI
• Striking graphics and visual element
• Custom-made feed
• Well-functioning application

Before concluding this part, here is a list of tips and recommendations for creating a photo-sharing app. These things are very important and you may want to reconsider them to succeed in developing an app comparable to Instagram:

• Turn up with a unique and brand new photo-editing tool inside the app which has new filters, effects, textures, properties, and editing prospects.
• Creating a photo sharing app for a specific user group or a special themed app would be great as an app for designers, food-enthusiasts, animal-lovers, etc. that can provide some value to the user group and create a greater community.
• Assist your users with some photo-editing lessons or share tips to create attractive user profiles.
• Add practicality to photo-sharing features so that the users can share their photos between phones or any other devices swiftly without signing-up.
• Offer unique features to create themed photo albums and set post privacy options that will help the users to choose the audience with whom they want to share the pictures.

Here are some bonus tips on how to develop an app like Instagram:

•  Study the market and know your rivals.
•  Outline the intention of your target audience and formulate their preferences.
• Access a reliable company to build an MVR for you.
• Set a budget before developing and try to get sponsorship.
• Ensure that your app has something unique to offer to its users.
• Test the final version repeatedly to avoid major bugs issues.
• Maintain consistency and keep evolving.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we have discussed all that you need to know to create a photo-sharing app like Instagram. Keep in mind, that Instagram has gained its popularity by keeping the interface simple, providing good performance, and offering differentiated features. The key is not to create a copy of anything that is already popular among the audience but to come up with unique ideas and trendy features that will distinguish your social media app from others.