When it comes to social media networks, Facebook is certainly one of the most popular choices available. However, a lot of people who care about their privacy have been looking for an alternative, and that’s where MeWe comes into play.
Yes, over the years, we have believed that Facebook is the Kingpin of social networking platforms, but the buzzworthy popularity of apps like MeWe made us all think about it over again.
MeWe’s CEO, Mark Weinstein, in his Wall Street Journal op-ed, wrote, “MeWe is a full-featured social network engineered with privacy-by-design that’s freemium-based with no ads, targeting, or news feed manipulation. Marketers and election meddlers cannot target or boost anything to anyone. These are significant competitive differentiations.”
Weinstein also adds that “It’s gratifying to see MeWe flourishing worldwide. MeWe is the uplifting social network with the features people love and the respect, control, and data privacy we all deserve.”
Technology is taking social media by storm. With the growing user base, social media platforms are changing their core functionalities. They are now not only stuck on connecting people but are giving ample opportunities to businesses to showcase their brands. However, most users are concerned with the privacy policies of these platforms. With this in mind, let’s see why there is a need for MeWe-like app development.
Why There is a Need for MeWe App Development
It’s a no-brainer that Facebook is the most dynamic and popular social media network that has dominated the social cult ever since its initial launch. From job postings to community management, it includes a myriad of features that keep a user hooked and engaged.
However, as they changed their privacy policy, many people started realizing that their privacy was being compromised by the platform.
According to their most recent update, Facebook has employed an algorithm that observes your behavioral patterns and deciphers them to serve you manipulated content in the application. This makes it more of a target-based platform that displays content as per your past preferences and choices.
In the wake of the WhatsApp and Facebook data breach controversy, people are looking out for new social media platforms that are safe and secure. MeWe, a US-based social network, has come to the rescue and became the top downloaded social app in the Play Store. Currently, the app has over 16 million users, and the number is increasing every quarter.
With the help of MeWe app development, you can keep your privacy protected by preventing targeting, ads, and political biases. You can check MeWe reviews to see that the app is gaining huge popularity among people.
Essential Features in MeWe App Development
If you take a look at several social media networks available, especially apps similar to MeWe, you will notice that there are certain common features that each of them shares. To know how much an app like MeWe development costs , you need to consider keeping these essential features in mind.
Moreover, as you introduce other specific features to your application, you will notice that the MeWe clone development cost will definitely bump further. With that said, let’s take a look at some fundamental MeWe like app features required while developing the app:
- Profile creation
Your application needs to provide users the ability to express themselves through their personal profiles. It includes allowing them to enter their personal details such as name, address, website, email, birth date, and even mobile number.
- Authorization
A proper authorization mechanism acts as the foundation block of the privacy and data of your users. Therefore it’s certainly a must-have feature in your MeWe application. It involves letting users signup and login into your platform through their phone numbers or email addresses. Additionally, it also requires a password recovery and reset mechanism, some security interventions, and several other features.
- Messaging
As you’re trying to make MeWe social media platform, you surely need to ensure that your users have a proper communication channel. Moreover, in addition to simply sending texts, you may also need to add the ability to send media files such as messages, videos, and stickers through chat. The development cost may even vary depending on whether you want to allow your users to have group conversations or not.
- Search function
To make the usability of your application easier for users, you need to include a search function that allows them to access the profile of their friends, communities of their interest, and posts they find engaging.
- User interface
Apart from the crucial features, the design of an application is certainly one of the most important aspects because that’s what makes your creation unique. This may also be the costliest part of your on-demand social media app development process. While getting the user interface designed for your application, you need to make sure it looks attractive and provides an aesthetic feel to your users.
- Custom social cloud
MeWe offers its users a personal social cloud with unique member profiles for each group. Users can make their communication and content vanish using the program. You can use cloud storage to automatically record, save, and publish your video call with other users. Your complete content is organized in the cloud storage associated with your account.
- Control over permissions
When you are thinking to build an app like MeWe, you must understand that users nowadays are active and care about their privacy. Including additional features like offering full control over permissions will help them acknowledge the USP of your app. With this feature, users can manage and control who will see what data. The users even have the option to remove themselves from the application’s search directory. The invisible mode allows users to hide from other users whether they are online or not.
- Tagging
This feature allows users to tag content into multiple categories for easier search and sort operations and content. It’s a new and highly useful app feature that allows users to filter and organize all the content they receive or distribute. It makes it easier to find anything at any time with the help of filters.
- Journals by MeWe
MeWe stories have a timeline of 24 hours only, but if you are a premium customer, you can maintain a journal like MeWe. This helps you make a collection of these stories. The journal feature would allow users to tag, sort, save, rearrange, and organize their stories which allows them to create a lifetime of memories. You can share this journal with other members of the app or your closest family members and friends.
- Notifications and news feed
The news feed isn’t something new, and users are familiar with this feature already. However, it’s a must to include this feature as a news feed is what updates your users with what’s going on with your friends and family. The news feed is the live feed about the activities who are a part of your MeWe circle, including family, friends, people, pages, etc. Whenever there’s a new post or event, it will show in your news feed. If you are not active on the app at the moment, you will be getting a push notification for the same.
- Voice and video calling (dual camera)
The MeWe app offers unlimited IP calling in voice and video modes to its premium users. You can allow users to connect with multiple users at the same time in a single voice/video call. If you are willing to pay a higher subscription fee, you can get a live streaming facility. The app offers a dual-camera video call feature that allows users to use the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
- Groups
Users with a premium subscription to the app can create groups to invite people with shared interests to have an open discussion. The group works as an open platform for sharing ideas, thoughts, visions, etc. Like MeWe, you can decide to have light to moderate content moderation policies enabling smooth and candid interactions.
How is MeWe different from Facebook and Other Social Media Platforms?
Unlike other social media apps, MeWe social app has a different concept that does not replicate every other social media site. The MeWe creator’s intent is very clear when it comes to marketing the platform, as it has been directly indicated in interviews that MeWe social network app wants to be the alternative to Facebook.
This most likely clarifies why the site attempts to imitate Facebook’s UI. Users can offer thumbs up, hearts, and smiley icons to posts. They can share their posts on their different feeds. There are user profiles and separate pages, and groups feature for individuals to assemble around a particular theme or topic. MeWe social network reviews are also mostly positive.
The below image will show you which are the top categories and apps used by users.
The app works on the “users pay, not advertisers” business model, as there are no advertisers associated with this app. It is a subscription-based social media network where users can join and use it for free but need to subscribe if they want access to the advanced features. For instance, the business page creation costs $1.99 subscription. To gain access to additional features like Cloud, voice and video calling, and custom emojis, you need to pay $4.99 per month.
The best thing about MeWe social media app is that it has collaborated with Google and Microsoft for their automation packages. You can integrate MS office 365 to share documents across diverse teams.
Top Competitors of MeWe
The MeWe app is not a direct competitor to Facebook but gives a unique anti-facebook stance in the marketplace. If you want to develop a MeWe-like app, you need to know about its top competitors. Here we have listed a few social networking apps like MeWe that are gaining huge success.
Technology Stack for MeWe like App Development
The technology stack required for app development depends on the platform for which you are developing the app. It directly affects the costing factor for an app like MeWe development cost. Here are the details of the tech stack required for MeWe-like app development.
Determining The Development Cost
When you’re developing an application like MeWe, there are a lot of factors that affect its development cost. The mobile app development cost that you may incur depends on the functionality, complexity, and comprehensiveness of your application.
Moreover, if you’re outsourcing the development part, the MeWe app development cost becomes majorly dependent on the custom social media app development company you hire. On the other hand, if you have an in-house team of social media app developers, you need to keep their salaries in mind while determining the cost of developing an app like MeWe.
Additionally, as you keep adding more features, the costs will keep piling up. It’s also worth determining the total number of hours required to complete the development phase of your application in case you hire social media app builders based on an hourly payment. Therefore, keep all these things in mind while determining the social media app development cost of your MeWe social network application.
The following is the average estimate of the hourly rates of mobile app development costs in different geographical locations:
North America: $150-$250
Western Europe/UK: $160-$225
Eastern Europe: $125- $140
Middle East: $100- $115
Australia: $90- $125
India: $100- $220
The cost of MeWe like app development, depends on various factors like the platform, team size, geographical location, tech stack, features, and more. However, the ballpark for MeWe-like app development cost is between $125,000- $250,000.
How Appinventiv can Help with Social Media App Development
Appinventiv is a leading social media app development company that caters to businesses of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. The company has a vast portfolio and has worked with global brands like Adidas, IKEA, Pizza hut, and more. Appinventiv has a pool of skilled social media app developers that helps businesses turn their social media app idea into reality. For instance, the team at Appinventiv developed a voice assistant application, “VYRB” that levels up the social media experience for users globally.
The Takeaway
As Facebook made changes in its policies and tampered with its user’s privacy, people began looking for safer and more privacy-oriented platforms. This calls for the need for MeWe application development. While making an application like MeWe, you need to consider several things, such as core features, UI design, and a lot more.
Additionally, to determine the costs associated with the development of this application, you may also need to consider several aspects, like mode of development and required time. Hopefully, you may have found this guide helpful in coming up with an estimated development cost for your application.
Still, if you have any doubts regarding how to create an app like MeWe, its development costs, or are having difficulty in hiring a social media app development agency contact us.
FAQs
Q. What is MeWe?
A. MeWe is a quickly developing high-integrity social networking site with every one of the social features that individuals love alongside no promotions, no ads, no targeting, and no news feed manipulation.
Q. What content can I share on MeWe?
A. At MeWe, you can securely share images, recordings, memes, videos, documents, voice messages, Dual-Camera MeWe’s chats, GIFs, doodles, disappearing content, stories, and much more. You have the option to communicate one on one and in private groups with your contacts, family, colleagues, and friends, and in open groups with other MeWe individuals with whom you share a common interest or hobby. MeWe has numerous open groups. Due to these features, MeWe reviews are good on Play Store and App Store.
Q. Is MeWe Safe?
A. Privacy and security are the essential focus in all that MeWe does. At any time, you can download all of your content and erase your account, which totally deletes all the content and posts you have shared on MeWe.
MeWe doesn’t use any cookies, face recognition programs, spyware, and no GPS beacons. They don’t gather your information or offer your data with any third-party sites except if you, yourself, request it, for example, on account of associating through Facebook, Twitter, and so forth to invite friends or to join MeWe.
Q. What are some unique features of MeWe?
A. MeWe has many features that make it unique from other social media apps. Some of them are:
- My Cloud
- Unique profiles
- Voice integration
- Dual-camera videos
- Universal tagging
- Permission control
Q. Is the MeWe app free?
A. MeWe is free to join, but some of its features do cost money. The free services include newsfeed, private and groups and group chats, voice messaging, and more.
Q. What is MeWe secret chat?
A. MeWe offers a secret chat feature in its premium subscription. It restricts others from accessing messages in the inbox. Apart from secret chat, some other unique functionalities of the MeWe app are voice integration, dual camera videos, universal tagging, and more.
THE AUTHOR
Sudeep Srivastava
Co-Founder and Director
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