How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like Instagram in 2019? Share: MLSDev Date Published 20 February 2019 Categories Blog Reading Time 4-Minute Read In this article, you will find out full information on the cost of building a social photo-sharing app like Instagram. It goes without saying, to make Instagram it took years and thousands of dollars. Nowadays there are more and more requests to make an app like Instagram which can mean something different for each person because the platform contains wide functionality, as Instagram has expanded from a photo-sharing application to a social and business platform. Instagram is so successful because of continuous product improvement. Currently, it gives its users the ability not only to share a photo and video content with other users but also offers wide business possibilities. Instagram has undoubtedly become a powerful sales channel to attract new prospects and offer different products and services. At the same time, Instagram always improves the user experience by maintaining simple, intuitive navigation for new users along with monochrome and laconic design. In general, the company follows design tendencies in order to provide the best user experience. At present, Instagram is a free photo and video content sharing application, which can be downloaded through the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android). There is also a web version for sharing and uploading content. It costs money if you would like to use Instagram for advertising purposes. Below you will read the Instagram functionality to understand how the system is built and what efforts it would take to create a similar product. The Instagram App Functionality Firstly, it is important to know that Instagram evolved from a simple photo-sharing app. Do not forget that its primary feature was adhering photos into a square which allowed Instagram to succeed in the app business. Instagram includes the following key functionality: Authorization (via email, phone number, or Facebook) Create and edit profile (including Business profile) Messages Image customization Determination of geolocation View user profiles and follow other users Personalized feed Search (by posts, usernames, tags, and places) Mentions Analytics Settings Photo & Video Instagram App As mentioned, Instagram’s life began with photos! The whole content includes posts which are shown in the personalized user feed which is based on preferences. Users can follow other users, pages, and hashtags. Besides, Instagram has the functionality to edit these photos, apply a range of filters, and tag locations and friends in the photo. The year 2017 was full of Instagram stories, which set video content in the center of the service by allowing users to broadcast short videos. Despite the fact that they self-destruct after 24 hours, since December 2018, users can easily store their best broadcasts in the Stories Highlights section for an indefinite time. This is quite a complex feature for Instagram, with a separate feed on top of the main app screen. Instagram has also become an innovator in mobile television. The platform also launched IGTV for vertical videos adapted for smartphones to compete with the well-known YouTube. Messaging Instagram App One of the first great updates made by Instagram in 2013 was the messenger, Instagram Direct, which allows private photo-sharing and messaging to people you follow. This changed the emphasis from a mostly public social network with a broadcast structure toward some more private and precious moments shared only with a close group. Supported Products for Instagram Instagram also has a few sub-projects. All these are working with video and photo-processing applications namely: Boomerang – creates unexpected and fun short videos that circle back and forth Layout – makes collages from a set of photos by mixing and editing them Hyperlapse – allows stabilizing videos to create time-lapse shots Learn more here. In this article, you will find out more about current app functionality and see a real-life example of a photo-sharing project similar to Instagram in functionality. In such a way, you will better understand how much it would cost to develop a social-networking app like Instagram.