Streaming is the new way to go with respect to entertainment. The Millennials are glued to a different kind of screen, their mobile screens to consume all the audiovisual content. Televisions still exist in every household but the content on television is not broadcast but streamed. For an up-close an personal viewing experience people prefer the small screens and media apps.
By the end of 2020, there will be 6.1 billion smartphone users in the world. That means 70% of  the entire human population on earth will have the means to be connected to the internet anytime, anywhere.
This sudden change in preference of the devices and media can be attributed to factors such as:

1. The availability of LTE/4G/3G connectivity to a larger audience.
2.The freedom that comes with streaming your favourite shows or music on the go.
3.Web series and Music LPs being released for online viewing.

A global research report by Deloitte extrapolates the rise of HD displays on mobiles and 4G networks and content viewing over mobile for the next decade. A lot of popular youtube channels have already started riding the wave by introducing mobile apps that air specific content from their own production houses. Even major players such as Star from 21st Century Fox and Viacom 18 (the parent company to Colours TV) have come up with apps such as Hotstar and Voot for the mobile friendly, tech savvy audience.

In the International circa paid streaming is ruling over cable networks and Satellite TV.  Streaming media giant Netflix is getting more than 25% of its traffic from mobile phone apps and Youtube is also getting 27% of its traffic from mobile. Youtube series from production houses are  riding on their popularity with the young urban crowds, most of them being smartphone users who don’t mind spending their 4G data on entertainment apps.

But what makes a quality streaming experience on mobiles? Is it enough to build a native app experience only? What are the other tit-bits one needs to cover for high definition, high quality audio and visual content streaming app? What is the future of media content apps?

Read on to know more:

Setting Quality Standards for Visual Content:
The quality of the streamed content depends on several factors, such as device screen resolution, frame rate, bitrate, all of these have to do a lot with the hardware, the network connectivity and the bit encoding of a programmed app. Of these factors, the app owners can only control the bit encoding. For the audio content sample rate, bit per sample rate, compression and bit encoding works the same way.

The Netflix Mobile App:

Notice how Netflix manages to deliver great quality, streamed content across devices, on their mobile app? They call it the bit optimization encoding practice.

The end result is that the screen size, the resolution, aspect ratios don’t matter because the video quality adjusts for the best picture. Similarly with audios, the audio files are compressed for different media and applications. The quality of the same format may vary across devices unless you have a built in code that optimizes for every display and network connection(Broadband or LTE)

Building native apps is just not enough, because even within the same OS, the screen resolutions may vary, the sound quality is dependent on hardware and the network connections are most likely to change as a the user hops between outdoors and indoors. The idea is to employ scalable code and flexible formats that adapt to different softwares as well as hardware.
An idea that our in-house developers revealed while trying  not give away too much of their special sauce.

Exploring VR in Media Applications:


Post  Google Cardboard, the world has taken well to the immersive 3D viewing experience.
With Daydream scaling up the simple box into high end technology, it was expected of visual media apps to match up to the same. A lot of media apps now aim at providing the immersive view when coupled with VR gear.

YouTube and VR
Youtube already runs a 360 degree video channel for a simulative viewing experience and if you own an Oculus, Cardboard, Daydream or a VR gear these are a delight to the eyes.
Similarly apps with VR experience are being built around the VR gear. Gaming apps, Virtual classroom simulators, and Video content distribution apps can employ this to enhance user experience.  

Visual Content Apps as Audio Visual Learning Aids:

Remember that as a kid, the AV Room sessions used to be the favourite lessons. They still are, only now the mobile applications have replaced the television screens. Every kid has a personal tutor. Interactive learning has promoted the use of technology for all scholastic purposes and media apps are being incorporated into the curriculum by parents and teachers.
Similarly the VR experience can be used for advanced educational programs like space explorations, surgical procedures in medicine and a lot more. immersive viewing for real-time viewing is also one exciting prospect in the entertainment. it’s like a whole event present before you as a holograph!

For now the entertainment industry seems to have received the Audio-Visual content apps very well. The apps in the VR domain are select but they have a niche audience that doesn’t mind paying an extra buck for the experience. But if anything is obvious from the rise of media apps it is that amidst all this content and noise over the internet and on television, the best way to reach out to the target segment is an app. For more news on the same, keep reading and for a little more insight into media apps and how to develop one, contact us!