Back4app Editorial Team

The Back4app Editorial Team brings together the backend engineers, cloud architects, and technical writers behind Back4app, the open-source-based backend platform. Every article is written or reviewed by practitioners who build and operate production backend infrastructure daily — covering Backend-as-a-Service, cloud deployment, APIs, databases, and mobile and web development. Tutorials are tested against real deployments before publishing, and guides are updated as platforms and pricing change. Our work is open for scrutiny: explore our code on GitHub, or see what developers say on G2 and Product Hunt.

How to make a chat app like WhatsApp?

How to make a chat app like WhatsApp?

Do you want to build something great? Developing a billion-dollar messaging application is always the best idea to consider. Well, here we can let you know amazing details, which will certainly help you to create an effective and attractive messaging application.

WhatsApp statistics you should know

Almost every smartphone is using at least one kind of messaging application. Even more and more messaging applications are coming up with time. So, this can be the best time to cash in one of the instant messaging applications and can build a platform similar to WhatsApp for sure. So, this is the right time to take a dive through the process of creating an instant messaging application similar to WhatsApp. Not only this, but we will also analyze the factors which are necessary to take this application up and running. Here we will see the entire details regarding a template similar to WhatsApp messenger application. Ultimately, this will help you to understand things in an even better way.

Well, data from various resources, including web analytics, market intelligence company, and SimilarWeb, shows that the apps associated with the category of messaging are having most downloads in more than 150 countries. Even more, the Statista Statistics website has also reported that there are more than 2 billion users of instant messaging applications all around the world. While the statistics authority website has also forecasted that these numbers are going to increase to 2.5 billion until 2021. It clearly means that one-third of the world population will use instant messaging applications by 2021. However, there are numerous instant messaging platforms that are working at the present time. While WhatsApp messenger is the most dominant one among all of these instant messaging applications, which are being used by more than 1.3 billion users at the present time. However, if all of these statistics are making you more interested in building an instant messaging application, then keep reading this post.

Want to know more? Keep reading…


What is a serverless backend?

What is a serverless backend?

A serverless backend is a platform that eliminates or decreases the need for developers to handle complicated and time-consuming backend server functions. It allows developers to focus on frontend functionality and UX. Examples of serverless backend are BaaS – Backend as a Service and FaaS -Function as a Service platforms.

Here is what you will find reading the article:

  • Why use a serverless backend?
  • Examples of serverless backend
  • Advantages & Disadvantages of a serverless backend

Want to know more? Please continue reading.


How to build a Ecommerce app?

How to build a Ecommerce app?

Are you an online seller looking to get a unique eCommerce application developed? Do you have a bright idea for the next big app?

But how do you go about creating an eCommerce app?

The rate of mobile phone usage across the world is growing fast as devices become more available to everyone. Mobile usage has grown to such an extent that the world now has more phones than it has human beings.

Despite technology becoming more accessible, mobile application development is still expensive and complex. Take a look at 10 actionable tips mentioned in this article to know how to build an e-commerce app faster and cheaper.

Following these will let you create fluid and feature-rich applications that facilitate easy online commerce.

The things you can discover as you read on include:

  • The top 8 eCommerce platforms today
  • Ten essential steps to make an e-commerce app
  • Vital must-have features of eCommerce applications


How to Create a YouTube App Clone?

How to Create a YouTube App Clone?
YouTube-App-Clone

All global businesses were once startups before they grew to become multinational companies we know today. The good news is that you can access the technology these companies used to power their platforms.

Let’s take YouTube as an example, three staff of PayPal resigned and partnered to develop a video-sharing platform.  In its early days, YouTube averages 30,000 daily visitors. Today, the platform has grown to become the world’s largest video hosting service that boasts over two billion users.

The success story of YouTube inspires developers and technology business owners to build an app like YouTube. If you also want to build a YouTube-like app, keep on reading this step-by-step guide.

While your quest to create a YouTube clone is a worthwhile endeavor, you must understand that creating an app is not child’s play. Several factors like costs, server procurement, development team, and project management are critical hurdles you must overcome.

This article will save you money, time, and avoidable headaches while creating your mobile app project. Here are the eight steps to take while building a YouTube clone app.

  • Note down your high-level goals.
  • Make a list of minimum features.
  • Create a sketch of your YouTube-like
  • Begin from a template.
  • Create the backend.
  • Generate code for the front end.
  • Seek user feedback.
  • Publish and promote your YouTube-like

Keep reading to discover how to create an app like Youtube. 


How to Create an App Like Instagram?

How to Create an App Like Instagram?

Do you want to do something remarkable? Something big? Something unique? Have this fantastic idea for the next photo-sharing app but do not know how to implement it? You are on the right article.

How to create an app like Instagram?

If you want to know how to make an app like Instagram, listed below are a few pointers commonly associated with developing a photo-sharing app.

We will share practical lessons that will save you thousands of dollars in development costs. Mobile application development requires considerable forethought and planning. To ensure smooth development, you should focus on the ahead work.

  1. Research the market to determine your target audience.
  2. Start with an MVP.
  3. Finalize the concept of your unique application and focus on how it differs from Instagram.
  4. Study the competing photo-sharing apps.
  5. Define factors, such as the scope, budget, goals, and technologies for the application.
  6. Come up with an eye-catching advertising and promotional strategy early in the app development cycle.
  7. Establish a channel to communicate with app users so that you can receive feedback from them.
  8. Pick a reputed and responsible app development agency to create an Instagram-like photo-sharing application.
  9. Keep in mind that the development procedure involves designing, creating, testing, and launching the program in question.
  10. Monitor the competitors and evolve your application accordingly with bug fixes, updates, and functionalities.

 Want to know more? Move on reading…


How to Create a WhatsApp Clone App?

How to Create a WhatsApp Clone App?
Create WhatsApp Clone

Are you brainstorming on how to build an outstanding project? Do you have an idea for the next billion-dollar messaging app? Perhaps you are considering creating a WhatsApp clone app? You are on the right place and this article will explain how to develop WhatsApp social messaging app clone.

Well, it’s possible to build a robust messaging app like Whatsapp, but you need to follow tried and tested strategies that guarantee success. 

How Do you Create a Messaging App Like WhatsApp?

Data from SimilarWeb, an analytics and market intelligence company, shows that apps in the messaging category have the highest number of downloads in over 180 countries. Apptopia ranked Whatsapp as 2nd most downloaded apps of 2020.

A 2020 survey by Statista also showed WhatsApp was installed 600 million times globally and it’s used by about 2 billion peopleuse every month.  The statistics authority website forecasts that this number will continue to increase. This means that a third of the global population will be using IM apps by then.  Although there are myriads of messaging platforms that compete in the market, WhatsApp is the dominant IM app with more than 2 billion users.

Almost all smartphone users have a messaging app installed on their phones.  Although there are myriads of messaging apps out there, new ones are still getting launched on the app store all the time. The reason is simple; the market is massive. You too can cash in on the instant messaging app craze by building an app like WhatsApp.

This article walks you through a step-by-step procedure of creating a chat application like WhatsApp. To achieve this objective, we shall provide a WhatsApp clone template to help you understand how the app works.

Whatsapp Statistics

Want to know how to make an app like WhatsApp? Continue reading to learn more about how to create a WhatsApp clone app.


Hood.ie: Top 5 Alternatives

Hood.ie: Top 5 Alternatives

Hood.ie is an open-source backend that allows developers to quickly implement features without even needing to code. It is the first-ever offline Javascript backend and is mainly used by mobile application & game developers to make a backend that works without needing to waste dozens of hours into difficult backend coding. There are some alternatives to Hood.ie that might be better than itself in certain scenarios. We have listed five of them:


The Best Game Sparks Alternatives

The Best Game Sparks Alternatives

While to some people, games are the only source of fun, games can be the future of the business world because of the technological advancements today.

With everything like Crypto, Metaverse, and NFTs being related to games and the gaming world, many brands and companies are already investing in Games. So, game development is a hot topic for today’s world and most probably for the future.

It means that the game development industry will have a lot of advancement in the coming years. Well, developing games takes a long time because you need the Backend to be perfect by all means. If you start developing some game from scratch, it may take so long that things get inefficient. The better way is to use some platform that allows you to develop games easily.

GameSparks is an amazing option that you can go for, but there are several other options available that you can use. These options bring amazing value if GameSparks does not fulfill all your requirements and needs. So, here we will be discussing GameSparks and the best 5 alternatives to it.


The Best PlayFab Alternatives

The Best PlayFab Alternatives

PlayFab Alternatives

Play Fab is one of the best online platforms that is being used by a great majority of game developers. This platform offers PaaS services to such developers that cannot afford most of the resources to develop some highly professional and advanced gaming apps. In such a case, these developers approach this platform and get any kind of resource they want at the most affordable price rate for a particular time duration.

Top 4 PlayFab Alternatives

There are lots of people who are highly using Play Fab but still, there are also some of the people that don’t really like this platform. They try to have better platforms to make their tasks done in the best way. For this purpose, they search for different platforms but they don’t find any of the best play fab alternatives.

So, here we are going to tell you about some of the alternatives to play fab so that you can have the best experience to develop your gaming app.


Top 5 Apple CloudKit Alternatives

Top 5 Apple CloudKit Alternatives

The best alternatives to CloudKit

Apple Cloud Kit is one of the Apple frameworks that is meant to link data between the iOS app and the iCloud container. This backend as a service platform is basically used by iOS developers, which can be both mobile developers and desktop app, developers. These developers use this platform because they want to manage their development process way better as compared to the recent methods.

As you know that there are tons of developers that don’t really have many resources by which they can make their development better. If they have to switch to some platform and want to develop a huge application, then they don’t get many resources to utilize. In this case, Apple Cloud Kit helps a lot because it allocates all of the required resources to the developer by which they can easily make such things happen those are required to him or her, and for all of such favors, he/she just only have to pay a very moderate amount.


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