Essentials Of OTT App Development

Krunal Shah

Jan 31, 2023

8 min readLast Updated Oct 04, 2023

Essentials of OTT App Development
Essentials of OTT App Development

With the expansion and easy access to the internet, people are changing their way of consuming content for entertainment. In yesteryears, the modes of entertainment were television and cinema, but now with OTT app development, the horizon of personalized entertainment is rising.

Today's most well-known streaming video services include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes Video, and HBO Go. However, successful internet video enterprises are not limited to large corporations. In addition to these major organizations, several smaller companies also run successful OTT service providers.

Statistically speaking, the growth of OTT apps has been astounding. As per the research done by Magnet Global, OTT app development will be a $200 billion market by the end of 2024. In addition, the screen time and payment for a platform per month will also increase. People spend more than 100 minutes daily on these OTT apps and pay subscription fees of $8.53 per platform per month. Hence, there are lot of reasons to invest in OTT app development.

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Therefore, here we will understand the basics of OTT app development services. Furthermore, we will see the important features of OTT platforms and the cost of OTT app development.

Features of OTT Platforms

Many crucial factors would play a major role in defining the success of OTT platforms. We have created a listicle of the best features that will render value for money and help the business organization to dominate the market through their OTT apps.

1. Simple Customization

It is essential to provide personalization options for users to access the OTT platform from their TV, mobile, or web platforms. Make sure to provide these customization options with limited coding dependency.

2. Synchronized Video Library Management

A central video library that enables on-demand sorting and categorizing of movies, music, news, and other information is necessary if you wish to maintain complete control over your content.

3. On-point Audience Research

The business needs precise insights about user behavior, geographical preferences, ratings, run time, subscription habits, and more to personalize content delivery and boost viewing.

4. Smart Look and Feel

You need to use the analytics-led search stream for improved user engagement. With precise search results and tailored recommendations, it enables you to define user preferences.

5. Streamlined Payment Integration

A secure payment gateway must be integrated into your company app to process payments quickly and easily using debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers, e-wallet apps, and other methods.

6. Multi-Language Support

Making the content accessible in various languages is crucial to widening your audience beyond national boundaries. Subtitles, audio descriptions, or an audio track enable this.

7. Variable Content Categorization

By categorizing genre-based and audience-targeted material, you can assist your audience in finding their favorite content more quickly.

8. Show Watchlist

It enables the addition of movies, videos, TV shows, and other content by your channel members for later viewing. This notification feature is used in custom OTT software development to remind customers to check their watch-later list.

9. Push Notification

Sending messages about new content uploaded to the platform, information about subscription renewal or expiration, and other things requires the push notification capability.

10. Screen Casting

Users would benefit from being able to cast material to desktop computers, smart televisions, laptops, and other appropriate devices.

Looking for the right software development company to partner with?

With over more than 10 years of experience in software development, we, at Third Rock Techkno, offer a broad range of software development services and solutions. Our expert professionals not only ensure timely project completion and product launch within budget, but also help your product find the right market positioning and help you grow to meet your business goals.

Get in touch with us for free consultation!

What is the Process of OTT App Development

Developing an OTT app is not an easy task. Therefore, it is advised to hire an experienced OTT app development service provider that has a proven record of delivering state-of-the-art OTT app development services. Below are some important steps that will guide a business organization to develop a better OTT app:

1. Be Careful While Selecting Your Niche

Along with looking after the OTT software, a crucial first step in creating a successful OTT platform is choosing a specialty. You may next concentrate on creating a script that will be interesting and beneficial to your target audience. Depending on your target audience, this might be anything from sports to comedy or drama. It's crucial to comprehend your target audience before choosing a specialization. Targeting the right content to the right audience is important to make your OTT app an overnight success.

2. Have a Definite Business Model

The OTT app's content strategy should serve as the foundation for the OTT video revenue model. Successful OTT streaming companies are well aware of their business strategy. This is helpful to them because they know exactly what has to be built and how the venue should operate.

For instance, you'll need to devise a method of collecting payments from your subscribers if they intend to offer a subscription service. There should be various payment options including credit/debit cards, net banking, UPI, etc. The business organization could also wish to consider alternative video monetization strategies like advertising or pay-per-view (PPV).



3. Hire the Right Mobile App Development Company

The mobile app development process is an essential first step for the OTT platform. This is because most people these days now access material through mobile devices. The preferred means for watching video material has replaced television with mobile devices. Your mobile device is now your smart television, and it needs a top-notch app to go with it. The creation of an Android and iOS app must be considered while starting the OTT platform. You can reach the greatest number of users with an OTT platform that supports many devices.

Make sure your mobile application is user-friendly and well-designed. Without any buffering, the app should be able to stream video content. Additionally, it should support streaming and have an intuitive and simple user interface.

4. Develop An Attractive Content Inventory

A combination of live and on-demand content should be available in the content library. This will enable viewers to catch up on prior episodes at their convenience or watch content as it airs.

The OTT app development company must ensure that every piece of content it produces is worthwhile and pertinent to your intended audience. This holds for both the video's actual content and any written summaries you add to it. It's also crucial to provide a broad selection of material for viewers to pick from as OTT platforms are subscription-based (SVOD) streaming services.

5. Track and Analyze User Behavior

Always look to leverage analytics to improve the user experience and enhance their engagement on the OTT apps. The company can make use of analytics programs like Google Analytics or Microsoft Analytics, which will give it useful information about how viewers engage with your streaming service. They must implement the necessary modifications to enhance the user experience in light of the findings.

With the aid of analytics tools, they can monitor user numbers, app crashes, time spent using the app, page visits, and the most popular content. You can utilize this information to learn what people like and dislike about your app. Additionally, it will assist you in raising the general caliber of your streaming service.

6. Avail of a Multi-Content Delivery Network

By distributing content from various CDNs, a multi-content delivery network (CDN) approach will assist the OTT software developer in avoiding the issue of slow speed and excessive latency. This will guarantee that the content is delivered fast and effectively—even during periods of peak demand.

It's essential to employ a multi-CDN strategy, especially when launching the OTT platform. This guarantees that the information is transmitted effectively and swiftly. Live streaming events may have higher latency when using a single CDN server. This is due to the possibility of a single CDN becoming saturated with traffic during times of heavy demand.

7. Secure the Content Data

Securing the intellectual rights of the content on the OTT apps is paramount. The business company. Make sure the content is encrypted and secure before broadcasting it. Otherwise, there is a significant chance that the content will be stolen or pirated.

The developer of the OTT software can protect your content by utilizing digital rights management (DRM) tools. Your content is encrypted by DRM technology to prevent unwanted access. By doing this, you can safeguard your content and guarantee that only permitted users may view it.

See More: Why React Native is the Way Forward for Start-ups’?

How to determine the OTT Platform Development?

The cost of an OTT platform development is not a fixed amount, like any other commercial software. It is challenging to provide a precise cost estimate due to the numerous cost-deriving factors that directly affect the development cost of OTT platforms.

List of elements that directly affect the cost of developing OTT platforms globally

  • OTT platform category.
  • characteristics of OTT app.
  • built-in security measures.
  • knowledge about the development company.
  • Incorporates complexity.
  • necessary tech stack
  • Development of the project schedule.
  • Extra features

The OTT platform development company will have complete freedom to create and scale their streaming platform by creating an OTT app in-house. However, a large portion of your time and money will be spent on operational costs and developing development teams.

In comparison to creating the full infrastructure and hiring a mobile app development team to design, customize, and deploy the product, partnering with a software development company for the production of a custom app will be less expensive.

But here's a hybrid strategy that is a true WIN-WIN!

The OTT app development organization may benefit from an application framework that is already ready, contains all the necessary capabilities, and can be swiftly customised to meet your needs in a matter of weeks! Superior product quality, cost-effectiveness, and a rapid time to market are all ensured. Additionally, the business may use the money saved to produce and market new content.

See More: Top 7 Digital Transformation Trends in 2023

Why Opt for Third Rock Techno For OTT Platform Development?

At Third Rock Techno, we have been providing clients with ground-breaking solutions by utilizing the most recent technologies. We are aware that a personalized content experience is important in a market that is being changed by changing customer behavior.

We offer full-fledged consulting and development services, as well as demonstrated subject experience, to find, evaluate, and implement unique OTT platform development solutions with end-to-end integrations. We are familiar with the ins and outs of the majority of standard business procedures and can assist you at every stage, from video intake to management to monetization.

You may reach a larger audience and increase your earnings with the aid of an OTT platform. However, launching an OTT app platform can be a difficult and complex undertaking. Development of mobile apps, analytics, content distribution, security, and many other factors must be taken into account. Third Rock Techno is a complete package that has everything you require. Create your own OTT platform with us right away! Without needing to know any code, we make it simple for you to build a platform with lots of features.


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