How To Build An App Like Instagram: The Ultimate Guide[2025]

Krishi Shivasangaran Published On December 20th, 2024 Tech Talks

Want to create a social networking app like Instagram? We’ll walk you through 5 easy steps and show you how to launch your app in the next few hours

We all love to hang around on an app like Instagram, every day. Using it is  fun! And building an app like Instagram is even more fun if you have the right plan and tools. 

Hey 🙋

Today, we are going to walk you through everything about building a social media app like Instagram. Did we read your mind? Then stay with us, for every section of this article has something interesting to help your social media app development plan. 

3..2…1….Let’s begin! 

Is Social Media Becoming The Future? 

Absolutely! 

Tell me when was the last time you used a social media app. A few minutes ago? A few hours ago?

That’s exactly how much Social media apps has intertwined with our daily lives. We all love networking, especially on apps like instagram that makes lives fun and engaging. And it is not surprising to know that there are over 1 billion Instagram users across the world, and the count seems to multiply as years roll. 

With many more strong statistics backing the fact that Social media is going to rule the internet, this is indeed a great opportunity for Businesses and developers to make use of the opportunity to start building platforms, that could turn out to be big giants in the upcoming years. 

Before the market gets crowded with too many apps, you can start building the platform right away and evolve with growing needs of your customers. Isn’t that a great idea? 

If you have the same on your mind, I’d suggest you to go through the entire article, and at some point of time, bigger ideas may spark for your business. Try it!

Instagram: A Quick Glimpse 

Instagram is a popular social media platform that allows users to share photos and videos. It’s owned by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web.

What makes Instagram so popular among this generation and why it is sure that Instagram will remain a go-to choice for the future generations.

Let’s take a look at the facts:

• Between 2019 and 2023, Instagram saw its number of monthly active users grow by an impressive 127%. (Source: The Social Sheperd)
• Instagram saw its number of monthly active users grow by an impressive 127% between 2019 and 2023..(Source: Data Reportal)
• A significant portion of Instagram’s audience is young, with 39.2% of Generation Z checking the app more than once daily. (Source: Hootsuite)
• Nearly 86% of companies actively use Instagram, showing how crucial it is for marketing.
  (Source: Hootsuite)
• Instagram’s ads can now reach over 1.6 billion people worldwide, making it one of the best platforms for increasing brand visibility. (Source: Datareportal)
• Posts on Instagram generate 4 times more engagement than Facebook posts and 10 times more than tweets on Twitter, making it a top choice for interaction. (Source: Sproutsocial)
• Each month, about 130 million users click on shopping posts, highlighting Instagram’s strength as a platform for online shopping. (Source: Hootsuite)
• Over 25 million small businesses use Instagram, relying on tools like Stories, Reels, and Live to grow their brands. (Source: Oberlo)
• For every $1 spent on influencer marketing, brands earn an average of $5.20, proving Instagram is a profitable choice for collaborations. (Source: Influencermarketinghub)
• Brands that use Instagram Reels experience up to 22% higher engagement compared to posting regular photos. (Source: Hubspot Blog)
• About half of B2B decision-makers use Instagram for research, proving its value beyond just consumer-focused marketing. (Source: SproutSocial)
• More than half (58%) of users say Instagram Stories make them more interested in a product or brand. (Source: Instagram Business)

There are a lot more statistics and facts that back Instagram’s popularity and engagement metrics, and how it has changed the way people run their businesses. 

And that is one good reason to consider building an app like Instagram, for engaging your audience socially and building potential networks.

Top 10+ Amazing Instagram Key Features

Most of us use Instagram on an average of between 29 to 33.9 minutes every single day. What holds our attention in this app is its fun and interactive features.

Here are some of the prominent features we enjoy daily, while using the app:

1. Posts

This is the primary feature of instagram where you can share your photos, videos or carousels (multiple images) in your profile. You can add captions to your content, tag people related to this post, and use the hashtags that are trending in the recent days, to boost the visibility of your posts.

2. Reels

You can create short videos with music, and other audio effects for up to 15, 30, 60, or 90 seconds. In the recent years, people prefer this short-form content over longer ones, as they are more captivating and interesting. 

3. Stories

These short-lived content can be shown on your profile for up to a 24 hrs. as tappable circles. The content that you publish as a post or a reel can be shared as a story to boost your recent activity, where you can more like attract views, and reactions from other who follow. 

4. Notes

If you’d like to rememver an even or some person you see when scrolling through reels or insta posts, you can immediately add a note. This message/ phrase will last on your profile for upto 24 hours, so you would remember the information, amidst 100s of content you consume on the app. 

5. Favorites

You will have an unique preference of friends, family, or content creators whose content you’ll choose to watch first over others you follow. Rather than searching for their accounts to see their content, you can simply add them to your favorites list, which will put their content first on your feed.

6. Message Editing

Everyone makes mistakes while chatting. Sometime typos, sometimes wrong windows and sometimes irrelevant messages. Understanding this Instagram gives you an option to edit the message within 15 minutes from the time you hit ‘send’ All you need to do is, long-hold on the message, click on edit and revise the text. That’s it, super-easy!

7. Pinned Chats

Not everyone will be on your priority list, especially when you send out direct messages. To keep the important contacts easy to access, you can pin their chats in your chat window, making it easy to connect instantly, without having to scroll through the contacts.

8. Instagram Feeds

You will see every photo, and video content from the accounts you follow. Interestingly, you will also see the content relevant to the interests and categories based on the accounts you follow.

9. Email Login

Instagram makes it easy to login to your account. You can simply login once with your email account and your device can remember you credentials, making access to your account effortless, unlike apps wanting to login everytime you need to use them.

10. Profile/User Bio

Everyone wants to exhibit the best side of them on their profiles. People can personalize their profiles with their own pictures, custom avatars, a short and catchy description about them, and highlights of your posts/ reels on the front-page.

11. Comments

People who like your content would want to add their ideas to your posts. Or you may want to do so on others’ content. The comment feature helps on this. People can use it to engage with the content, as appreciations, inquiries, criticisms or adding values.

12. Post Likes

Some posts make you smile. You simply would like to show your appreciation or a sign that you like the content. In this case, you can just double tap on the content and like it. Now based on this action, Instagram understands that you like the content and will start suggesting similar posts & reels.

13. Push Notifications

What if you are waiting for an important notification and you need to see it only if you access the app. Not convenient right? This is where Instagram comes with a feature where the alerts are displayed on the notification pane of your device, so you can simply click on it and get straight to the content.

14. Professional Dashboard

This is a feature for Content creators and Influencers who use a Business account in Instagram. This dashboard contains key metrics like follower count, engagement on posts, likes, comments and views, giving a detailed analysis of how well their content is performing among target audience.

Well these features are already available in Instagram, which means, people could use this platform for communication. But, are these just sufficient? 

Not at all! People look for more modern features with growing needs for networking, socializing and collaborating! 

So what other features can you add? 

Let’s get you a list:

Core/Essential Features	Advanced Interaction Features	Chat Management
Real-Time Messaging	Topic-based Chat	Customization
Private and Group Chats	Video Conferencing	Full Source Code Ownership
Message History & Backup	Upload Huge Files	White-labeling Option
Basic Notifications	Live Streaming	Multi-Language Support
Presence Indicators	Voice Broadcasting	End-to-End Encryption
File and Media Sharing	Geolocation Sharing	Message Logging and Auditing
Typing Indicators	Threaded Conversations	User Authentication and Authorization
Read Receipts and Delivery Status	Chatbot Integration	Roles and Permissions
Push Notifications	Rich Media Support	Analytics and Reporting
Profanity Filters	Message Reactions and Emojis	Custom Metadata and Tags
Chat Moderation Tools	Integration with Other Services	Cross-Platform Support
Chat Export	Real-time Chat Translation	Advanced UI Customization

Plus 1000 more engaging features. 

Now, checking most of these features lets you build a social app that engages people, even better than Instagram. In other words, you can build the future of social media! 

How to Make an App Like Instagram In 5 Simple Steps?

This section is exclusively for Developers who’d love to build a custom social media app like Instagram, the easiest way.  In this project, we’ll explain the steps to build the app in Android using MirrorFly’s custom chat SDK. 

Why MirrorFly?
Because building a social media app is a regular development process, but building a customizable one, that’s only possible with MirrorFly. Hey, there’s more, we’ll talk about it at the end of this article, now lets focus on the development steps.

Step 1: Get the License Key

1. Register for an Account: Contact MirrorFly team and activate your account. 
2. Log In to Your Account: Use your credentials and login to your account. 

Retrieve Your License Key: Go to the “Application Info” section in your dashboard to locate your license key. You will need to use this key to activate and use the SDK.

Step 2: Set Up Your Android Project

1. Create or Open a Project: Open Android Studio and either create a new project or use an existing one.
2. Add Gradle Configurations:
   • For Gradle 6.8 or higher, add the required code to settings.gradle.

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
        google()
        jcenter()
        maven {
            url "https://repo.mirrorfly.com/release"
        }
    }
}

• For Gradle 6.7 or lower, add the code to root build.gradle. (Refer to the Gradle documentation for detailed version updates.)

allprojects {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
        google()
        jcenter()
        maven {
            url "https://repo.mirrorfly.com/release"
        }
    }
}

3. Include Dependencies: Include the required dependencies in the app/build.gradle file to integrate and enable the SDK’s functionality.

dependencies {
   implementation 'com.mirrorfly.sdk:mirrorflysdk:7.13.11'
 }

4. Resolve Library Conflicts: Add the following line to the gradle.properties file to prevent conflicts between the imported libraries.

android.enableJetifier=true

5. Update Permissions: Update your AndroidManifest.xml file to include the necessary permissions for the SDK, such as those for network access and data storage.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Step 3: Initialize the Chat SDK

1. Basic Setup: In the onCreate() method of your project’s Application class, initialize the ChatManager class and configure it with the required parameters for setup.

ChatManager.initializeSDK("LICENSE_KEY", (isSuccess, throwable, data) -> {
            if(isSuccess){
                Log.d("TAG", "initializeSDK success ");
            }else{
                Log.d("TAG", "initializeSDK failed with reason "+data.get("message"));
            }
        });

2. Application Registration: Connect the MyApplication class to your project by specifying it in the <application> tag of your AndroidManifest.xml file using the android:name attribute.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.uikitapplication">

    <application
        android:name=".MyApplication"  // Add this line.
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
        <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                ...
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

Step 4: User Registration and Server Connection

1. User Registration: Use the provided method to register a user in either the sandbox or live environment. Configure the setIsTrialLicenseKey parameter appropriately to toggle between trial and live modes.

FlyCore.registerUser(USER_IDENTIFIER, (isSuccess, throwable, data ) -> {
        if(isSuccess) {
            Boolean isNewUser = (Boolean) data.get("is_new_user"); // true - if the current user is different from the previous session's logged-in user, false - if the same user is logging in again
            String userJid = (String) data.get("userJid"); //Ex. 12345678@xmpp-preprod-sandbox.mirrorfly.com (USER_IDENTIFIER+@+domain of the chat server)
            JSONObject responseObject = (JSONObject) data.get("data");
            String username = responseObject.getString("username");
        } else {
           // Register user failed print throwable to find the exception details.
        }
   });

1. Connect to the Chat Server: Once registration is successful, the SDK will automatically establish a connection to the chat server.

Step 5: Handle Messaging and Events

Send a Message: Use the dedicated method to send one-to-one text messages to other users.

TextMessage textMessage = new TextMessage();
textMessage.setToId(TO_JID);
textMessage.setMessageText(TEXT);

FlyMessenger.sendTextMessage(textMessage, (isSuccess, error, chatMessage) -> {
    if (isSuccess) {
        // you will get the message sent success response
    }
});

2. Receive Messages: Implement the MessageEventsListener to observe incoming messages. The listener triggers only when a new message arrives.

ChatEventsManager.setupMessageEventListener(new MessageEventsListener() {
            @Override
            public void onMessageReceived(@NotNull ChatMessage message) {
              //called when the new message is received
            }

        });

3. Track Connection Events: Set up ChatConnectionListener to monitor the status of the server connection and handle callbacks accordingly.

ChatManager.setConnectionListener(new ChatConnectionListener() {
    @Override
    public void onConnected() {
        // Write your success logic here to navigate Profile Page or
        // To Start your one-one chat with your friends
    }

    @Override
    public void onDisconnected() {
        // Connection disconnected
    }

    @Override
    public void onConnectionFailed(@NonNull FlyException e) {
        // Connection Not authorized or Unable to establish connection with server
    }

    @Override
    public void onReconnecting() {
        // Automatic reconnection enabled
    }
});

4. Prepare User JID: Generate unique JIDs (Jabber IDs) for users to identify them within the chat system.

FlyUtils.getJid(USER_NAME)

For further details on advanced features like callback listeners, message events, and troubleshooting, refer to the official documentation.

How Much Does It Cost To Make An App Like Instagram?

There are 2 ways to build a social media app like Instageam: from scratch without an API and using an API like MirrorFly. 

I will break down the cost of both the scenarios:

1. Development from Scratch
2. Development using Chat SDK

Development from Scratch

Feature	Cost Estimate (USD)
UX/UI Design	$5000 – $7500
User Registration & Authentication	$3000 – $4000
Real-Time Messaging	$10500 – $11000
Group Chat Functionality	$5000 – $6000
Voice Calling Feature	$10000 – $11000
Video Calling Feature	$9000 – $11000
Multimedia Sharing	$4000 – $5000
Backend Development	$25000 – $40000
Testing & QA	$5000 – $7500
Deployment & Maintenance	$2500 – $5000

Total Estimated Cost:

• Approximately $54000 to $62000 for a single platform (iOS or Android). If you want to develop for both platforms simultaneously, the cost may double.

Development using SDK

Using an SDK like MirrorFly can significantly reduce development time and costs due to pre-built functionalities.

Feature	Cost Estimate (USD)
UX/UI Design	$2500 – $5000
User Registration & Authentication	$1500 – $2000
Real-Time Messaging (SDK)	$1500
Group Chat Functionality (SDK)	$1500
Voice Calling Feature (SDK)	$1500
Video Calling Feature (SDK)	$1500
Multimedia Sharing	$2000
Backend Development	$10000
Testing & QA	$2500
Deployment & Maintenance	$2500

Total Estimated Cost:

• Approximately $26,500 to $32,500 for a single platform when using SDK.

Comparison of Both Costs

Aspect	Development from Scratch	Development with SDK
Total Estimated Cost	$54000 to $62000	$26500 to $32500
Development Time	Longer due to building features	Shorter due to SDK integration
Customization Level	High	Moderate
Maintenance Complexity	Higher	Lower

Creating an Instagram-like app with chat and video features can have a wide range of costs depending on the approach. Building from scratch is costlier and takes longer but offers full customization. Alternatively, using an SDK like MirrorFly cuts costs and speeds up development, providing ready-to-use features right away.

Why Choose MirrorFly To Build An App Like Instagram?

The question comes with interesting answers along with important facts. While building a custom social media app like Instagram may sound overwhelming, the entire gets easier and effortless with MirrorFly’s custom communication solution. 

Why do we claim it as a fact? 

Because MirrorFly is, 

• 100% customizable: You can build everything like Instagram, but with a twist. You can configure any or every feature, just as per your business needs, without any kind of restrictions. 
• Data Ownership: A few solutions take up control over your app data just because you use them to build your app, but MirrorFly does not –  it gives full control over every piece of information. 
• On-premise Hosting: Well, you can self-manage your app, deploy on any server – on your own hardware, cloud, private cloud or any data center you prefer. 
• Upload Large Files: Instagram-like apps may require users to upload photos/ videos, sometimes at size or format that they prefer. MirrorFly supports your app to be compatible without any restrictions. 
• Customizable Security: Your app’s safety in your hands completely. MirrorFly does not limit with setting up just regular security encryptions. You can customize privacy and security just as you prefer. 

And there’s a lot more reasons why you should go for MirrorFly as your social media chat app solution provider. You can discuss them all in detail with our team and understand them better, before you start with the development process. We hope this article covered everything you need to know about building an app like Instagram. If there’s anything else you need to know about this, please let us know in the comments below. Until then, happy developing! 

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Further Reading

• How to Build a Social Media App in 2025 – An Ultimate Guide
• Top 7 Social Media App Features To Keep Users Active!
• What Is An Activity Feed & How Does It Boost App Retention?
• Best Activity Feed APIs & SDKs For Social Apps (2025)

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