How to build a social media platform like Yalla app?

With social audio apps like Clubhouse gaining the limelight, it has sparked excitement among investors to build a social audio app like Yalla. Started as an invitation-only app, it brought something new to the social media table – voice-based functionality. Around the time when Clubhouse was gaining popularity as an audio, social media app, Yalla was getting the eyeballs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Yalla’s success stems from its unique ability to connect people through live audio conversations, cultivating a strong sense of community and facilitating more immersive social interactions than text-based social media platforms. With its exponential growth, Yalla has emerged as one of the top social audio platforms in the region, capturing the attention of millions of users from diverse backgrounds.

This guide covers in-depth details on how to make an app like Yalla, its success journey, Yalla app features, cost estimation, and monetization strategies. Let’s dig deeper.

Yalla’s Journey as a Global Social Networking App

Yalla is a voice-focused UAE-based social networking app that features live group voice chats, creating or joining audio chat rooms on a range of topics for its users. The app also offers interactive games and activities to enhance voice conversations.

Yalla, the voice chat room app for Android and iPhone, is experiencing a massive surge in user traffic. The Yalla app’s business model has proven to be highly effective in reaching a wide audience. 

Yalla like social audio app development, can be a lucrative venture for companies because there is a growing need for cutting-edge communication platforms. Such an app provides a compelling and authentic user experience with real-time speech interactions, drawing in many users. It is a lucrative business option due to the possibility of worldwide expansion, targeted marketing, and monetization through virtual gifts and premium features.

If you want to build an app similar to Yalla, you have come to the right place. This blog will guide you through the features, benefits, and costs of the Yalla clone app development.

How to Build a Social Audio App Like Yalla?

From conceptualization to launch, let’s check out the steps to build a social audio app like Yalla. 

Conceptualization 

Your chosen app development team will begin by conceptualizing and researching our social audio app. Firstly, they will identify the app’s purpose and determine its primary objective. This will help you understand what differentiates your app from platforms like Yalla. 

Next, they need to focus on the target audience. Understanding their preferences and pain points is crucial to create a compelling app experience. Conducting market research will allow you to identify opportunities and gaps in the social audio space.

Features and Functionalities

The features you want to keep in your application will depend entirely on how complex or unique you want to make it. However, at Appinventiv, we always pitch building an MVP before offering social media app development services. 

This approach gives you insights into how well people accept your product, what changes they need, and whether they will continue using your application. Read to know what features make a social media app popular. 

Choice of Technology Stack

In the process of developing a mobile app, it is imperative to select the appropriate technology stack carefully. This selection encompasses various tools and frameworks that are essential for the app-building process. When creating an app similar to Yalla, a comprehensive technology stack may include Communication Protocols, DevOps, Data & App Management, and Audio/Video Calling Tools. 

These components play a crucial role in facilitating effective communication, ensuring efficient development operations, managing data and the app itself, as well as enabling seamless audio and video calling functionalities. Read this blog to learn the top technologies that can make your social media app successful. 

Focus on the UI/UX Elements 

Your main focus should be on developing a responsive design that ensures accessibility and visual appeal across various devices and screen sizes. By employing a thoughtful approach to UI design for your social media app, you can enhance the overall user experience. By carefully considering user needs and preferences, work on the UI to prioritize clarity, simplicity, and efficiency. 

Build your MVP

To develop app similar to Yalla, you must first focus on building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The purpose of an MVP is to construct the fundamental framework of the app and test its functionalities using a limited set of features before launching the final version.

Creating an MVP allows you to effectively evaluate the concept with actual users and secure funding to develop the full-fledged app. This approach allows you to gather valuable feedback and make necessary improvements to ensure the final product’s success.

Conduct Beta Testing 

Thorough testing is essential to identify and resolve bugs, glitches, and potential security vulnerabilities. By conducting comprehensive testing, we can proactively address any issues that may arise, thereby enhancing the overall quality and reliability of the product. 

Additionally, releasing a beta version to a limited group of users allows us to gather valuable feedback and make necessary improvements and refinements based on user experiences and preferences. This iterative process ensures that the final product meets the highest functionality, usability, and security standards.

Release and Promote Your App

Once the user testing of your social audio app like Yalla, has gone well, you are prepared to launch the app. However, you must adhere to Apple’s or Google’s developer requirements before making your software available on the app store or play store. 

Additionally, you must link your monetization strategy with their needs. Following a successful app store launch, you can promote your app on various social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

A Closer Look at the Yalla App’s Best Features

The MVP model aims to keep the feature set as close to the primary social audio app features as possible. Here’s what we mean by that in your version of the Yalla app.

1. Sign Up

This is probably one of the most basic but necessary stages of an application across genres. Ideally, you should be as less intrusive as possible by asking for information that truly impacts the functioning of the application – email, social login, and a password.

2. Feed

This is the home screen of the social audio app. Here, the users can see announcements, room updates, recent posts, etc. This will also be where you show personalized content to the users depending on their interests.

3. Online Voice Chat Rooms 

Online voice chat rooms are the perfect platforms for engaging in audio conversations. Whether you’re looking to connect with friends, join a community, or simply have a lively discussion, voice chat rooms provide the ideal setting. These chat rooms come in two types, allowing users to connect and communicate through voice-based chat apps. 

• Public – These online voice chat rooms are open for anyone to access. All they have to do is browse and join the room that interests them. 
• Private – These social media chat rooms are generally invitation-only, where users must use a code, link, or password to join in. 

Usually, within these rooms, three roles are given – speakers, listeners, and moderators – the management of these roles and permissions are handled on the admin end. 

4. One-On-One Text and Voice Chat 

Yalla audio social media app has a feature where users can have one-on-one text and voice chat with their friends. This way, the application merges the features of a messaging app well with a social media application. 

5. Games 

What is unique in the Yalla chat rooms app is that it allows users to play games with other users – all inside the voice chat room. This gamification feature makes the app more engaging and entertaining. 

6. Virtual Gift

Yalla app also gives users the ease to give – virtual currencies and gifts – to people they follow in the app or to their friends. This plays a motivational role for the speakers’, giving them reasons to continue talking around engaging content. 

7. File Uploading 

Even though the use case of a voice social media platform is unique, the genre is the same. It is ultimately a social media platform where people share life updates and posts. To maintain ease, you should add an easy file-uploading feature in the application. 

8. Basic Engagement Facility 

Like any other social media application, your version of the Yalla app should have basic engagement features such as – share, follow, comment, and like.

9. Screen Sharing

Although not an MVP feature, you can add this in the live audio social network app. A screen-sharing option would make it easy for the live speaker to explain a point further.

10. Push Notification

This is another key feature that works towards app engagement. You should employ a well-thought-of push notification strategy to update users on upcoming events, activity on their profile, the start of an event, etc. This would help you with user retention to a great extent.

How Much Does Yalla Social Audio App Development Cost?

Yalla like social audio platform development cost depends on certain factors like the intricacy of the features, platform (iOS, Android, or both), design, backend programming, audio streaming capabilities, security precautions, and testing. 

The project’s complexity and post-launch support will also impact the total cost. To obtain a customized cost estimate for the Yalla social audio app, it is advised to consult with a software development company like Appinventiv while considering these factors. Our experts can provide a detailed breakdown of costs and assist you in effectively planning the development process.

Developing a social media app from scratch can be a significant investment, with costs ranging from AED 150,000 to AED 500,000 or more. However, it’s important to note that these figures are rough estimates and can vary depending on various factors, such as the complexity of the app and the features it offers. 

Another factor we have not considered here is the other cost factors that go beyond technicalities. The mobile app development cost also depends heavily on where the agency is based – the developers in India will charge around $40-80 per hour, which will become $120-160 per hour when you move to the USA or Australia. Next, the timeline of when you need the app will also bring an impact. 

So, the more you delve into these factors, the more you will find the base range changing. 

Now that we have looked into the spending side of the Yalla-like app development let us throw some light on how they can earn returns on their investment. 

[Also Read: How Much Does Clubhouse Like Social Media App Costs]

Monetization Model for Yalla-Like Application 

There are many ways to earn money on the back of a social media application. But only a few would work best when you are in the growth stage. Here are some of the top monetization strategies for Yalla like social audio app development –

Subscription

Adding a subscription model is the first and most common mode of earning revenue. By adding a monthly/ quarterly price for accessing all the app features, you will be able to get a returning customer base that is open to paying for the app experience. 

Virtual Gifts 

While this model is fairly specific to Yalla, you can also introduce it in your offering by allowing the users to buy something from your in-app marketplace and give them to the people they draw inspiration from on the application. 

Brand Events 

You can also partner with brands who would like to host an event on your application and charge them for the same. You can decide based on the number of attendees, the brand size, etc. 

There can be a number of ways to generate revenue through the Yalla chat app, but it is important to know the user journey and understand at what point they are most likely to make a payment and become a paying customer. 

Create an App Like Yalla With Appinventiv 

With this, we have looked into everything you need to know about starting a social media audio app like Yalla. Our team also recently worked on a similar voice-based social media app business model where we helped our client, Innovative Eyewear, with an app that enables users to send and receive audio messages optimized for Bluetooth wearables. We added the feature to allow voice posting to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook using Bluetooth glasses.

Expanding on voice capabilities, we integrated audio command features in the app, using which the users could share audio messages and create posts for social media on the go. Moreover, in an effort to make this platform more engaging, we incorporated a unique autoplay functionality that compiled all your feeds and made them audible through one easy stream. 

The app then garnered 50k app downloads and received $1+ Million in funding, validating that we carry the skills needed to build innovative social media apps that end users and investors love. 

If social media networking is something that interests you, then get ready to build a social audio app like Yalla with us and turn your dream project into a reality. 

Get in touch with a social audio app development company like ours to set your idea off the ground with its own unique essence. 

FAQs

Q. How to build a social audio app like Yalla?

A. Building a social audio app like Yalla needs careful planning, factors consideration, development, and attention to user experience. Here are a few steps to make an app like Yalla:

• Conceptualization: Identify the main goals and differentiating features of your app.
• Features and Functions: Real-time audio streaming should be used for smooth communication.
• User Experience (UX) and the User Interface (UI): Create a user-friendly, visually appealing interface. Make sure that switching between the various sections and functions is seamless.
• Technical Framework: For the front-end and back-end development of the app, choose the right programming languages and frameworks.
• Security and Moderation: Use tools for content moderation to create a secure environment.
• Testing: Conduct thorough testing to find and correct flaws and errors.
• Launch & Marketing: Create a launch strategy to generate interest and draw in the first consumers.

Q. How much does it cost to build a social audio app like Yalla?

A. The cost to develop an app like Yalla might run anywhere from AED 150,000 to AED 500,000 or more. It’s crucial to keep in mind that these numbers are only estimations and are subject to change depending on several parameters, including the app’s features and complexity. Connect with our experts to get the complete Yalla social audio app development cost estimation. You can also go through this blog to know the cost of building a social media app. 

Q. How long does it take to build a social audio app like Yalla?

A. The time required to develop a social audio app like Yalla can vary due to multiple factors. As a rough estimate, the initial version of such an app would typically take around 3 to 6 months to build. However, the timeline for social audio platform development can be influenced by factors like scope and complexity, platform, design, and development.

THE AUTHOR

Prateek Saxena

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER