When you Google the popular movie streaming apps, the results you will get are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu etc. But one app which is gaining huge popularity is Flixster. It is one of the famous video streaming apps that has 20 million combined mobile app downloads. 

With such hype, businesses are looking to invest in Flixster app development. So, if you develop an app like Flixster, you too can become the next leader in the video streaming industry.  

The market size of video streaming service, the average revenue per user is projected to reach $76.58 in 2024. Is this data enough to convince you to develop an app like Flixster? If yes, then read this blog till the end.  

This blog will cover the steps to build an app like Flixster, features, costs and other crucial aspects. Along with that, you will also find monetization methods, benefits and challenges. 

So, let’s begin! 

 

What is Flixster App?

Movie buffs may access a wide range of content on Flixster, a well-known video streaming app. It offers lots of content, like showtimes, reviews, and trailers for movies. With the flixster android app, you can quickly look for new films depending on your tastes, see upcoming releases, and even buy tickets. 

When choosing a movie, you may view reviewer and viewer ratings by integrating Flixster with Rotten Tomatoes. So, if you want to develop an app like Flixster, then you must consult with an on demand app development company. 

 

Future Predictions & Projections of Video Streaming Service 

• The global video streaming (SVoD) industry is anticipated to generate US $108.50 billion in sales by 2024. This suggests that the market has a bright future.
• Additionally, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.27% is predicted for revenue between 2024 and 2027, culminating in a market volume of US $137.70 billion by 2027.
• The United States is expected to produce US $43,970.00 million in revenue in 2024.

 

Source: Statista 

• This indicates how much the US has contributed to the worldwide industry for video streaming (SVoD).
• In the Video Streaming (SVoD) industry, the average revenue per user (ARPU) is projected to reach US$76.58 in 2024.

 

How Does Flixster App Work?

Before you build an app like Flixster it is vital to be aware of its working process. So, let’s have a look at the working mechanism which is explained by an entertainment app development company.   

 

 

• Make an Account

Users have to create a free account so as to access Flixster. It enables them to store their favorite films and customize the experience.

 

• Explore Movies

There are lots of different movies available on Flixster. Users can search by popularity, release date, or genre. Additionally, they can look for particular films or actors.   

 

• Read Reviews

It provides user-centric movie reviews which can help users in knowing the value of a film.

 

• Find Showtimes

Flixster will assist you in finding the showtimes for local theaters if you’d want to see a movie there. Via the flixster free movies app, tickets may also be bought. 

 

• Watch Trailers

You may use Flixster to see movie trailers prior to deciding which ones to see. This provides you with a sneak peek of the plot of the film. 

 

 

Why Develop A Video Streaming App?

Knowing the reasons to invest in a video streaming app is essential for business. So, here are some of the compelling reasons you must check out. 

 

 

1. Increased Visibility

When you develop an app like Flixster, it gives you access to new markets and greatly expands the reach and visibility of your business.

Actually, content that is updated in real time draws users in and promotes natural sharing. This makes your message go viral on social media.     

Also, your brand becomes more visible as more viewers interact with your live broadcast. You can attract new clients and raise brand recognition.

So, if you create a mobile app like Flixster, it is a smart choice to increase market presence and consumer base. 

 

2. Real-Time User Engagement

The ability to engage users in real time is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of video streaming app development.

In-person interactions with viewers are made easy through live talks, comments, and replies, which build genuine personal bonds.

With this quick feedback loop in social media app development, you must reply to questions, feedbacks and queries from the audience. 

 

3. Analytical Insights

When you develop an app like Flixster for video streaming, it provides insightful data on the tastes and behavior of the audience.

You may analyze audience trends, peak engagement periods, and popular content subjects by using analytics.

You may optimize material to appeal to your target audience and make modifications to your live streams for optimum effect with this data-driven strategy. 

 

How To Develop An App Like Flixster?

So, how do you build a streaming app like Flixster? Video streaming service development is not finished at this point. You need to know the crucial mobile app development process when you start the Flixster app development.    

 

 

1. Defining the Target Audience and Value Proposition

Although it might not seem like a big deal, this is perhaps the most crucial part of launching an app. It is imperative to validate your app idea with IT consulting firms for a target market before you develop video streaming applications.

Even if they are things, apps are not what you are selling. You’re providing a fix for a particular issue that is made possible by a flixster streaming app.

Before you develop an app like Flixster, you need to know the problem you are trying to solve, who you are helping, and how you plan to solve it. 

 

2. In-depth Market and Competitor Analysis

One goal of competitor analysis is to put your flixster video app and brand far ahead of the competition so that more buyers will choose to purchase it. You may use the following simple framework to determine how your app compares:

• List all of the goods and services your rivals provide, along with their prices.
• Determine the attributes, advantages, and benefits of every service.
• Use the letters A, B, C, D, etc. to rank each feature and flixster desktop app. You can find the greatest features and items by using grading.

 

3. Legal Registration & Content Licensing

Technical expertise alone is insufficient to launch a video streaming service. Making the company legally compliant is a crucial component of preparing. In addition to legal registration, content licensing is an essential component in the entertainment app development. 

Before you develop an app like Flixster, you must know that licensing video material demands financial outlays. Thus, before you sign any contracts or select a business to partner with, you must discuss all the conditions. 

 

4. Work on UI/UX

One of the things that will cost you clients is a poor user interface. Do a competitive study and find out what parts of current applications are praised by your target consumers before you develop an app like Flixster. 

After that, use what they did as a drive to add even more features to your streaming apps. Additionally, keep in mind that apps similar to flixster with a strong UI don’t necessarily have a strong UX, so focus on both.

Therefore, you can create the best app like flixster for a seamless user experience. Right from the moment they log in to the final time they engage with it. 

 

5. Develop an MVP

MVP is the primary phase to develop an app like Flixster. In this stage, you have to define the features and other requirements, create deadlines, think about the design. So, you must first develop an MVP to save cost with the help of a social network app development company. 

Since Flixster’s success is largely dependent on a flawless user experience, it is crucial to focus on the design of your app. The user interface of the platform must be simple to use. Users may therefore browse movies and TV series with ease, make “lists,” search by genre, actor, director, and other criteria.  

 

6. Beta Testing and Launch

Testing is a crucial milestone in a video streaming app development project. It is vital to create a user profile for each tester, verify the testing team, and choose a testing schedule.

It helps you to get insightful input on crucial elements. For example lagging, navigation, performance, and user interface.

Although ignoring this stage would hasten the release of your app, you run the danger of delivering a subpar product and may end up paying a heavy price in the long run. 

 

 

7. Submit And Maintain

When the application is completed, package it and apply for approval to the Google Play Store or the Apple Store. Approval procedures might take one to three days. Once more, you must sign up for the Apple Developer Program in order to publish to the Apple App Store.

It’s important to note that submitting a commercial app requires more procedures than submitting a free app. As an alternative, you may download the app directly from your website by using internal distribution methods.

Additionally, it is vital to timely check and update your movie streaming app with the help of a Mobile App Maintenance Services provider. It helps in improving your app’s performance and better user retention.  

 

Key Features To Build An App Like Flixster

The features that the users want from your streaming app are crucial to consider when you develop an app like Flixster. Let’s go through the standard features of a live streaming app rapidly which is given by an iPhone app development company.  

 

 

1. Video player

Any video streaming app must, of course, contain a video player as its vital feature. Most often, the issue is to balance the right amount of options and features with a discreet user interface while creating a full immersion for the player. Adding user engagement options directly into the player to encourage users to take an active role in the game rather than just observe it becomes an even more challenging undertaking.

 

2. Playlist

Create a statement of your own.In order to view or choose “most liked” material, add subtitles, adjust resolutions, and listen on the go using customizable playlist features—all of which improve user experience—create, configure, and schedule whatever you need. 

 

3. Comments

A flixster cinema app may seem more interactive than comments. Still, it’s a fantastic opportunity for users to express their opinions. Additionally, as we’ll discuss in a moment, you may utilize comments to fine-tune your machine learning recommendation model.  

 

4. Payments

To receive payments from subscribers, you must add a payment gateway. To go along with the unique features you give your users, you can also set up an in-app currency to promote more purchases. 

 

5. Search

Apart from suggestions, your target audience could expect to see a magnifying glass icon to locate their favorite films and other media files. To make the search easier to use when you develop an app like Flixster, think about adding filters. 

 

6. Notifications

Notifications have two uses in a video streaming app. Users get notified when their favorite act begins a live stream. Also, users receive notifications anytime an app expects them to take part, such as when a response to a posted remark is expected. 

 

7. User profile

Funny enough, the least user-centric feature of live streaming apps is the user profile. Yes, we suppose that for some people trying to raise their rating or virtual prestige, it may be considered self-indulgence. But most of the time, it’s merely a way to use user feedback to tailor the app to their preferences as much as possible. 

 

8. Localization

If you want to develop a movie rating app like IMDb or Netflix, you must keep in mind that users will be from all over the world. Thus, it is imperative to include a localization system for the user interface and captions. 

 

9. Analytics

You will need built-in analytics, which display the quantity of views, comments, likes, and other user activities. It helps to observe how people interact with your streaming app. This data helps in setting the ad placements costs. It serves as a general roadmap for your flixter clone app development. 

 

Best Video Streaming Apps Like Flixster

You don’t have to start from scratch. Many live streaming apps are available, as companies have invested millions of dollars to discover best practices, which drives customer loyalty. The following is a list of some of the top video streaming apps:  

 

 

Flixster Alternatives	Available Platform	Downloads	Ratings
Netflix	Android | iOS	1B+	4.0
HBO Max	Android | iOS	100M+	3.7
Youtube	Android | iOS	1B+	4.1
Hulu	Android | iOS	50M+	3.7
Plex	Android | iOS	50M+	3.5

 

Challenges & Solutions of Video Streaming App Development

It is obvious that when you develop a movie streaming app, you might face many challenges. We have discussed with our mobile app developer and jotted down the challenges and their solutions you might face while Flixster mobile app development. 

 

 

Challenge #1: Security  

If users watch movies with unsecured or shared Wi-Fi networks, it can cause them in danger. It challenges the security and privacy of the data and devices. 

As you already know that these networks lack security and encryption, it can become vulnerable to hackers. They can see, alter, or steal your data or infect your devices with malware.      

 

Solution

Depending on their responsibilities, users can assign and change access rights to data, systems, and terminal devices. Therefore, so as to protect themselves from cyberattacks, video streaming app development companies need to encrypt their data while it’s in motion and while it’s at rest. You can achieve this by limiting IP access, implementing geo-blocking, and safeguarding platform passwords. 

 

 

Challenge #2: Scalability

As you know, scalability is vital for any mobile social media app like flixster. Also, it is one of the main issues that a mobile app development company faces when they build video streaming apps. 

As your user base expands, you must make sure to develop an app like Flixster that can manage the massive volume of traffic. The app has to adapt without lagging when several devices are connected. Also, the majority of streaming servers have a maximum number of concurrent viewers and streams. 

 

Solution

Fixing this problem can be aided by the Content Delivery Network. The recent concurrent rise in online video consumption and CDN usage indicates its critical function in offering an optimal video streaming app development service. 

It also makes it possible for end customers to get low-latency video, which improves user experience while cutting flixter app costs. A cost-effective, high-performance video platform needs CDNs. 

 

Challenge #3: Selecting Ideal APIs

It is difficult to evaluate and select the best API because there is a large range of them accessible, and each one has unique characteristics and capabilities. 

Still a chance that some APIs won’t function with particular frameworks or programming languages, which might lead to compatibility problems and extra integration effort. 

Additionally, top-notch security is vital to develop an app like Flixster, meaning that the APIs must be safe from threats. For any novice, it might be challenging to find all of these items in a single API.  

 

Solution

You need to find out the needs for a video streaming movie information app. These include things like the maximum quantity of users, and the minimum quality of video needed. Also, the devices that the flixster movie app is compatible with.    

After you’ve identified your needs, you must search for the technologies. But for individuals who are not familiar with APIs, this procedure may be challenging. You may give the challenging task of development to developers. 

 

Cost To Develop An App Like Flixster

It will be simple to estimate Flixster app development costs once you’ve chosen how to start a streaming service. It takes a lot of effort and cost to build a video streaming app. You will pay more for features the more you add. For admins and end users, you need to develop distinct apps as part of the development process. It will thus become much more expensive.

The typical cost to develop an app like Flixster is thought to be between $10,000 and $25,000. For a single movie rating app like flixster, the development process typically takes 5-7 months. Let’s check out the table: 

 

App Complexity	Cost Estimation
Simple Flixster-like App	$10000-$15000
Medium Flixster-like App	$15000-$20000
Complex Flixstere-like App	$25000+

 

Now you have the basic estimation. It’s advised to get in touch with a respectable live video streaming app development company for an exact quote tailored to your unique requirements.  

 

Why Is It Important To Fix A Budget Before Starting A Project?

Now that you have the cost to develop an app like Flixster, you need to be mindful of finances. Having a budget in place enables you to make the right decisions while developing your video streaming app and to know the overall planned structure. For this reason, be sure to consider the following before moving on with the growth of your company.   

 

 

1. Aids in Market Research

You need to know what features Flixster offers and at what pricing range in order to design a competing theater finder app like flixster. Understanding your spending limit will enable you to look into comparable programs and make well-informed development choices.   

 

2. You Need the MVP

An MVP app development that is feasible to launch fast and doesn’t break the bank is easier to design with a budget. You may invest more in features based on user demand after you have data from the MVP.  

 

3. Helps Identify the Actual Needs

Understanding your project needs and target audience is essential when you develop an app like Flixster. To create a video streaming app like Flixster on a budget, you have to rank features and functions according to c in order to focus on the most essential aspects.   

 

4. Need to Save for Marketing

Making a great flixster tv app is only one part of the process. It’s also essential to reach your target audience. A budget ensures that funds are set aside for marketing and promotion. This may entail app store optimization, social media advertising, and content marketing.   

 

 

How To Monetize Your Video Streaming App Like Flixster?

You’ve made a very stunning app. Check! What’s next? Once you’ve published your Flixster-like apps and you’re getting more and more downloads, it’s time to fire up the money-making engine. Let us now analyze the app monetisation models.    

 

 

1. Subscription

With an SVOD platform, monetize your content through half-yearly, annual, quarterly, and monthly subscriptions. In addition, it is the most profitable monetization strategy, with businesses like Netflix and Disney Plus adopting suit. 

 

2. Pay-Per-View

When it comes to business, every cent matters. And this is the same notion that drives the Transactional Video on Demand or “pay-per-view” monetization model. For a limited period, you may rent out your films, or you can give your members lifetime access. Make all of your video content profitable in one go with the help of a social media app development company. 

 

3. Advertising

AVOD: What is it? On-demand video advertising (AVOD). As the name implies, the majority of VOD money comes from advertising. When your videos play, pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll advertisements appear on them. To increase revenue, you may also place overlay advertisements on scrollbars and banners.The most well-known use of the AVOD concept is Youtube.  

 

4. Catch-Up TV

With the help of an Android app development company, adapt your video content to your audience’s favorite list and stream the episodes of TV series, serials, and movies that you missed. Then, provide a flexible price that is allocated for a certain duration and let people view in their own place. When customers don’t receive earlier seasons in traditional box sets, this can lead to widespread participation.   

 

Let’s Create An App Like Flixster At Minimum Budget!

You may expand your audience and boost the value of your business when you develop a movie recommendation app like Flixster. Users want to have access to your streaming content at all times and from any location.

They get that flexibility and freedom when you develop an app like Flixster, which is an excellent reason to pay for your service!  So, what are you waiting for? Just consult a leading mobile application development company about your project idea and get an amazing Flixster app development solution.  

 

FAQs

 

Q1. How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Flixster?

The cost to develop a video streaming app relies on your project requirements, technical skill, and features. When developing an app for a single platform, the typical entertainment app development cost starts at $10000 and goes up to $25000 depending on your needs and preferred number of platforms. 

 

Q2. What Technologies Are Used To Build An App Like Flixster? 

To enable seamless and effective streaming, several technologies must be part of the live streaming app development process. A live streaming application may employ the following technologies: 

• Content delivery network (CDN)
• Real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) 
• Media servers
• Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABS)

 

Q3. How Long Does IT Take To Develop An App Like Flixster?

The time to make an app like Flixster can be between 2-7 months. But it can fluctuate with a number of factors. It is best to consult with a Flixster app development company. 

 

Q4. What Are the Benefits of Flixster App Development?

When you develop an app like Flixster, you will get the below benefits:

• Enhanced User Experience
• Increased Revenue
• Strong Brand Recognition
• Data-Driven Insights

 

Q5. How To Build A Video Streaming App?

To develop an app like Flixster, you need to follow the below steps 

• Conduct market study
• Know your competitors
• Create a feature list
• Design the user interface 
• Develop the backend 
• Test your app
• Launch the app