How to Create an App Like TikTok: 7-Step Process to Launch in 2025

Launch Short Video App

Post covid the internet era gave re-birth to this liberating creative expression app, “Tik Tok” the entertainment focused video-sharing application, the most remunerating app with millions of followers and now a household name that holds a space in most of our daily gadgets and entertainment consumption area.

The app was devised by Byte Dance and the current market value of the app is almost 140 billion USD.(Source: Statista)

The surge didn’t happen in a single day, the rise of short videos has been happening from the inception of YouTube, Instagram and other social media platforms video playback intervention.

with an increasing engagement time and number of users, according to research the short-video had more viewers than long-duration videos and it was creating 2.5 times more engagement than the longer videos.

Isn’t this enough to create your next short-video platform, if there isn’t a nod from your side, let’s get into the revenue numbers now, 

According to grand view research, the global short video platforms market size was valued at USD 1.52 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 10.2%

And that’s what the numbers has to say about short video growth, now let’s get into the 

How’s the TikTok application built?
How to make a technically strong app like TikTok?
How does the TikTok app work?
How to develop the next generation TikTok app with VPlayed?

Get the answers straight from the pioneers of the business, let’s get started now !

How Does the TikTok App Work?

TikTok is a social media content sharing app, which allows users to create and share short videos to others or the public who follows users. The content can be video, audio of limited duration, typically 3 sec to 30 minutes long.

TikTok works on an algorithm, it was a dark secret which was kept hidden and now let’s break it down to the details, first let’s look into the technical work that goes behind the screens.

At the start you will be given some suggestions based on your interests, popularity, current trend and The app will collect information from the active hours spent on the app, and starts to list down a zillion videos based on the information.

The recommendations appear dispensing on the following,

• The most liked video or the ones you shared on the app
• Your favorite videos or the one’s you’ve marked as “Not Interested”
• The trending video you recently engaged
• Time you spend on an average, videos of such duration will be mapped and sent into your feed.
• Videos of your favorite personality/influencers. 

That’s why they call it feed, some time the reverse uno card is thrown at you 

The reported videos, the inappropriate ones you flagged will come up to your profile, the  accounts you follow and the comments posted by you, the lists go on. Sometimes captions, Hashtags, Trending topics are covered as well.

Businesses looking at ideas on how to build and engage viewers in your app can set algorithms based on this and make their way to get more viewers and engagement.

On the interface level, TikTok works with this step-by-step guide

• You start by creating a TikTok account with basic information
• Select your interests in TikTok videos
• Engage with the TikTok community.
• Make TikTok video content post or engage in viewing
• Analyze the video performance using analytics

 

If You’re Thinking of Creating Your Own App Like TikTok? Your App Journey Begins Here!

Start Building

How to Build an App Like TikTok?

To build an app like TikTok is no child’s game and it requires attention to detail with strategies that build on effort and marketing mind,  Follow the below proven methods to get started with,

• Choose your business streaming genre- 

This is the simplest and most important step, finding what works on the market and what are you going to focus on as a business. Ask these questions to find it out,

• Are you going to build an app for a set audience or for a global audience
• Choose a field or industry or mix of two worlds
• What is your USP
• What make your app unique from others
• Is it a TikTok clone or original
• How are you going to pull your audience
• Who is going to build your app 
• What are your business model 
• What is your Cost structure, Distribution channels, Revenue streams and value propositions.

Once you answer these questions, you will land in a clear path of building your own application.

Step 1 👉 Target Your Audiences

Making an app for one set of audiences and building based on your competitor’s strategy doesn’t work. Build an app for a target audience, make sure you know your audience

What age group are they, what are their interests, what do they most like. Finding these out will help in the process of designing your app, fixing features for the targeted audience. These will be your app’s loyal fans at the end.

Step 2 👉 Choose the Right App Provider

Here comes the point where you hire a team of developers from video app builders to make your dream app come true. Have a discussion with your demands, cost-structure, utilize top resources, collaborate and develop a strong UI and a supportive back-end software that’s rich in features and effective.

Choosing the right tech stack is also important as it allows you to build a great app, if you are not aware of tech stacks, choose an established app builder like VPlayed they will handle it for you.

Step 3 👉 Focus on Viewing Experience

The process doesn’t stop at that, the first step is always a trial run, where you study the user behavior, analyze and make appropriate corrections. Give updates and make changes.

All great software apps make changes with user feedback and behaviors.

Step 4 👉 Robust Security Measures

Not just your users should feel protected with their video data. As a business owner, make essential norms and set terms and conditions on your platform’s usage, ensure copyrights reserved for the user’s data and they don’t infringe the rights.

Step 5 👉 Make Monetization Based Business Models 

To gain your return on investments, choosing the right monetization models and pricing plans are crucial. TikTok’s in-app revenue from user spending was almost $1 billion in 2024. 

What are the Must-have Features in App like TikTok?

TikTok caters its global audience through its user-friendliness and efficient features, the most prominent factors in TikTok that boosts the app’s exposure, and gains the engagement, are the below features that you must-have in your app.

1. Video Hosting

Video hosting is streaming the video content with the right video CDN to deliver hassle-free content across the globe.

2. Video Content Management

Video CMS is the management tool which helps you schedule, organize and upload content to your viewers and to the content owner. VPlayed holds a strong video content management system to host videos easily.

3. 100% customization

Customization of user interface personalizes the experience of the user and the content owner, making an app that’s 100% customizable solves most of the problem with easy navigation. When it comes to customization, VPlayed speaks for itself.

4. Cloud Transcoding

With the help of cloud services this cloud transcoding allows streaming at different bitrates, resolutions and formats without losing the quality.

5. Adaptive Streaming

Irrespective of resolutions and bitrates a good streaming HLS video player adapts to the conditions and streams without video quality loss, making user experience smoother.

6. Content Delivery Network

CDN are servers which help in delivering videos without buffer and zero latency irrespective of the demographics of the user, a low latency makes streaming more troublesome, whereas a flexible Video CDN eases the streaming process.

7. Monetization Models

The right monetization model helps content owners to generate revenue from video content and some of the best video monetization platform models are AVOD, SVOD, TVOD and merchandise sales.

8. Security

A secure video platform welcomes more viewers, so build a platform that’s secure in all levels- Video DRM, Video AES and video watermarks are some best features that can be included to secure your videos.

9. Marketing

Develop an app with video marketing tools like social media sharing, local file sharing to help gain more viewers into the platform. The one platform you can count on for marketing is VPlayed, check their features right away.

10. Analytics

Video Analytics as a feature helps during the downfalls by boosting the video performance with metrics like Play time, Average views based on devices, geographical location ensuring the best growth.

How Much Does it Cost to Develop an App Like TikTok

The cost of developing an app like TikTok can vary widely based on several factors, like features, development process, tech stacks used, design requirements, platform choice (iOS, Android, or both), and much more. 

Considering all of the factors, the average cost for developing an app like TikTok ranges from $15,000 to $30,000. It may differ depending on the business niche.

Conclusion

Creating a TikTok alternative with VPlayed is more achievable with a guided plan. Considering the right features in the development process and engaging with experienced developers who specialize in building video streaming app will ensure that the app performs without any technical challenges.

VPlayed delivers promising video app builders who will provide post launch updates to effectively manage the infrastructure. 

Always remember to develop an app that resonates with your target audience and meets their needs, moreover an app with solid content will help you achieve it all.

If You Already Have An Idea About Creating An App Like TikTok For Your Streaming Business,
Schedule A Free Demo And We’ll Help You Implement It!