Холмс, кажется, вы в России...
A startup from the EU approached us. The client came up with an idea of an app that would replace subscriptions to dozens of streaming services and TV channels. This is how we started developing this product, despite the fact that we had never dealt with the playlist reseller market and had no experience in developing apps for Android TV and OS TV.
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We are used to paying for content. We make donations to our favorite bloggers and buy subscriptions to media and services. It’s convenient — creators make money by doing what they love, businesses get profit by connecting with creators, users, and platforms, and we enjoy high-quality series, movies, and music. But there are a few issues:
To make their lives easier, the Europeans use various tricks. For example, they turn to resellers of custom playlists.
Resellers are services that resell access to popular content platforms, or to specific contents, to be exact. You buy a subscription not to the entire service, but to specific series, movies, TV shows, broadcasts, or radio programs.
Let’s go back to the student eager to watch the dragons from the House Targaryen. They have several options: to give at least €45 to the corporations, download the series in low quality, and risk being fined, or to approach a reseller who will take just €10 for a customized playlist and access to the content of multiple platforms. Of course, they will choose the reseller.
Once a customer pays for the access, they get a m3u/.m3u8 file of around 8 MB. The file contains tons of incomprehensible text and links to the content. Each link redirects the user to a specific website. These things do make customers happy, but it’s very inconvenient to use.
This is where our clients come to the rescue.
This is what the content of a typical playlist looks like.
The client came to us with the idea of creating a cross-platform app that would convert IP playlists into a format resembling a streaming service. Users would download custom playlists from resellers and get a beautiful UI with a functional video player instead of the chaos of links and texts. This is how IPTV apps work.
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television. Just like regular TV, it broadcasts content, but it uses the Internet instead of satellite antennas. IPTV gives users access to broadcasts and on-demand videos.
IPTV apps resemble online video-sharing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Also, they are similar to services like Netflix, which provide access to content. But IPTV apps function in an isolated ecosystem and go beyond the licensed content. Users can download links to any videos: legal, pirated, or even their own.
Users look for content or playlists in IPTV apps so often that providers add disclaimers right into the product description
While people watch content on their devices after downloading playlists, our clients get profit from a few channels:
It turned out that we got into a real adventure series with dramatic plot twists!
At the start, we thoroughly discussed the project with the client to have a better understanding of their product. We talked about the concept, features, user behavior, and business processes. In this project, many things were new and unusual for us:
We had no doubts about working together. Firstly, the project was interesting — we wanted to make a content app. Secondly, anything can happen when you work with startups and innovative ideas — our team is always ready for surprises.
We had to make a streaming platform without making a streaming platform. On the one hand, we had a typical content app with classic features: to show a user a beautiful window with pictures, play videos with different subtitles and voice-overs, etc. On the other hand, it was just a framework for uploading custom playlists. The client gave us a few references, but in many respects, we developed the app’s logic from scratch.
Mind map. We created the logic of the app — user journey, navigation, etc. — considering the references and research. We built the mind map of the TV and web apps based on the user scenarios created by designers.
The content apps have well-established patterns. It was important for us to preserve them to make app navigation easier for users. In certain parts, we improved the basic set. For example, in the playlists, downloaded by users, content is originally grouped only by topics. In our app, we added filtering by languages — with just two clicks, users can choose the voice-over and subtitles. We not only made the users’ lives much easier, but also distinguished the brand against the competitors, as other IPTV apps don’t have such features.
Users can select a voice-over and subtitles just by clicking the flag icon at the top of the screen
Wireframes. Just like in the case of the mind map, it was vital for us to preserve the architecture users were familiar with. We built it quickly enough, taking similar content apps into consideration.
Mockup. Our clients outlined their preferences and fully trusted the Purrweb designers with the project. There was no need to reinvent the wheel, and we made an app with an emphasis on big posters of movies, series, and shows. This is what users come for.
Minimalistic design is a must-have for a content app
We used a dark theme as the basis to make users feel like they’re in a cinema — a familiar environment that helps people focus on the visual content. We offered our clients two color palettes: purple or green accents. The client chose the latter.
In this app, users can not only watch TV or videos but also listen to their favorite radio stations
Also, we picked our favorite Roboto typeface. It’s as neutral as a typeface can be, and it has a wide range of styles. It helped us make it easier for users to perceive the app — they can quickly and easily read the texts and focus their attention on the posters. Also, we saved the client’s money due to the open-source license of this typeface.
Roboto is a universal typeface our designers are loyal to
We spent a long time looking for a video player that would meet our criteria: it’s MKV and stream-friendly, works with Android and Apple, has great support from the development team, and, ideally, is free. It turned out that only a few cross-platform players meet all the criteria, and even fewer support mkv format, often found in custom playlists.
After testing various options, we chose React Native-based VLC media player. By default, users can’t change voice-overs and subtitles, but there is a guide for this in the VLCkit — player library for iOS. On top of that, it is editable, as VLCkit has an open-source license. Our developers took the opportunity, and rewrote a part of the React Native VLC media player.
The audience has a wide choice of voice-overs and subtitles.
To make the watching process as convenient as possible, we integrated EPG — Electronic Program Guide. When a user watches a TV channel, they can click a special button to see information about the show they are watching, its duration, and what’s coming next on this particular channel.
EPG is a traditional feature of TV content apps. A user can watch a broadcast and see the channel program at the same time.
When we were developing the app, we spotted an interesting bug. After unpacking a standard playlist, all the 18+ content was at the top of the list. Once the user opened the app, they immediately saw its huge catchy posters. Considering the taboo on the sex topic and the abundance of curious kids in modern society, it was not the best advertising tool. Besides, our testers didn’t actually plan to watch 18+ content at work.
We rewrote the code a bit and removed the XXX-marked content from the top of the list. Also, we added the “Hide the 18+ content” option to the settings. Just two clicks, users can completely remove 18+ content from the list — they will need a PIN code to get it back.
Access settings for the 18+ content
Our clients got six apps for downloading custom playlists and watching content. Plus, we made them a website. The mobile and TV apps have already been released in app stores, and our clients already earn profit by selling the premium status and showing ads.
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