No doubt podcasts are a popular topic right now. Well-known streaming/hosting services such as iTunes and Spotify are in demand among podcast lovers, but there are also special applications that are also useful. If you are recording podcasts yourself or want to create a popular service, your own app is a great idea. In this article, you will learn about the functions that should be in the application and how to make money on the project.
What is a podcast
Podcasts are audio files in the format of broadcasts on a specific topic. To create them, you do not need professional skills and expensive equipment — just a microphone and access to the Internet. Therefore, such recordings are made both by ordinary people and experts in some areas and celebrities. There are thousands of podcasts in the world about anything: technology, cinema, fashion, sports, science, cars, humor and so on.
Surprisingly in the world of fast content consumption, people are happy to listen to long podcasts in which TV shows, games, and news are discussed. The number of podcast listeners has also increased. Over the past ten years, the number of adult Americans who listen to podcasts at least once a month has more than doubled: from 9% to 26%. This means that the audience of podcast listeners is quite wide, and the new convenient application has every chance to gain popularity.
What should be in a podcast app
Search and categories
For almost every application, a convenient search is a must. And with the division of podcasts into categories, users will instantly find the right topics. You can also give the opportunity to add hashtags that users can create for convenient search. With the help of the rubrics, it will be possible to customize offers selected according to interests.
Playback control
As with regular audio files, podcasts should be easy to play, scroll, pause, etc. It is also worth taking care of saving podcasts so that the user can listen to the audio file later. To do this, you can create a personal library, as in many music applications.
Record anywhere anytime
The main advantage of the application is that podcasts can be recorded anywhere: at least in the mountains, at least for a walk. Sites do not give such freedom and tie podcasters to the microphone. Therefore, a request to use the telephone microphone is required.
Podcast Search API
You should take care of where to get the content. Indeed, in the beginning, users need to be attracted to something until they record the podcasts themselves. You can use the iTunes Search API, the Listen API library, and other systems to search for podcasts.
Collaborative recording
People will want to lead podcasts with friends or invite guests from around the world. And all this should be established in real-time. For example, Anchor’s popular app provided users with the Record with Friends feature, which supports remote recording with eight people.
Analytics
It is important to keep track of your results. Therefore, you need to enter statistics: the number of downloads and peers for the podcast, how many people liked it, how many listeners there were on the stream. Also do not forget about subscribing to podcasts.
Audio editor
Add simple audio editing tools. After the user has recorded a podcast, it must be edited by trimming unnecessary fragments or dividing it into several parts. Many podcast apps offer a background music library that you can insert on your air. This will definitely be a plus for your project.
Comment Playback
With the help of voice messages, you can include messages from listeners directly on the air. Some app creators have added a feature so that podcasters share listener comments on a specific topic, organize episodes inspired by listeners, or create entire Q&A-style shows.
Payment gateway
If you are going to monetize your application, you can not avoid using a payment gateway. The main thing here is to give users several payment options so that everyone can choose a convenient option. Read how to implement a payment gateway in your application in our article
Notifications
Using push notifications, you can inform your users about news, new releases from their subscriptions, updates and other events. Notifications are required for all applications because this is a great way to keep in touch with users and return them to the app.
Social network
If you find a good stream, why not share it with your friends? Allow users to share interesting podcasts on all popular social networks and instant messengers. So more and more people will learn about your application.
How podcast apps make money
Any application needs to earn money for development. Podcasts are now at their peak, so you can make good money on them. There are several ways to monetize an application:
- Advertising. You can always place ads on loading screens, banners, etc.
- Promotion system. As in social networks, users can promote their podcast to the tops so that they are recommended to more people.
- Special features. Introduce paid features that expand the capabilities of podcasts.
- Paid subscriptions and donations. Allow podcasters to receive development donations from subscribers and get a percentage for using the platform.
How much does the podcast app cost
The cost of developing such an application ranges from $5500 to $9000. It all depends on how many functions you want to implement in your project. Speaking about choosing a platform, it is worth giving preference to cross-platform development, which will save money. Also, the price tag for the finished application depends on the type of data storage or hosting, technologies for implementation, backend, interface design, and animation, as well as the choice of developers. Therefore, we can give only the average numbers.
Let’s sum it up
Applications for podcasts are not the most difficult to create and do not require millions of investments, such as games. It is important to decide on the basic functions and hire a good team to implement your idea. For all that, podcasts are in high demand, promising and can bring a good income to the creator. Therefore, if you have a good idea for a new application for podcasts, feel free to start implementing it.
