Product (3)

But, there are three major unexpected costs of choosing to shoulder the entire engineering process in-house. If your team is weary of integrating out-of-the-box components, learn what it's costing you below. 1. Competitive Advantage An average of 1,042 new apps are added to the Apple app store and over 3,000 to the Google Play store

As of 2025, there are over 30,000 fintech startup companies globally, compared to just over 12,000 startups in 2018. The fintech market is expected to reach nearly $700 billion by 2030. In this saturated market, it can be challenging to stand out. The features you add to your app can help, but you have to

Many sites are still using outdated communication channels like phone or email. But consumers want a live chat option. According to a report by Kayako, many consumers would spend as much as $500 extra per month with companies that provide easy live chat experiences. And in the same report, consumers said they would more likely

In 2022 the install-to-purchase conversion rate for non-gaming apps was 5.5%, while for gaming apps, it was just 2.6%. What counts as a conversion will vary depending on your app's functionality. But in general, in-app conversions are events or actions a user takes in the app, such as completing a purchase, upgrading their account, or

But as the video calling app market becomes more saturated, knowledge is power. Keeping conversations private and data safe and secure is top of mind for most users. Knowing the risks of unsafe video calling, the best security features to look for, and having a few trusted options to choose from can help you call

If you're currently struggling with hosting virtual classes for students, you're not alone. Many teachers and students are frustrated with online learning. In a McKinsey survey, 83% of U.S.-based teachers rated online learning a six or below out of 10 compared to real-life classes. Fifty-eight percent of teachers gave it a four or lower. However,

According to CB Insights 2021 State of Venture Report, venture capital investments reached a record high of more than $600 billion last year. And venture capital investors didn't just make more investments in 2021 than they did in 2020; they also gave each recipient more capital. But not every industry received equal funding. Financial technology

Today, over 300 million people use dating apps, with about 20 million of those people paying for premium features. But how do you grab a slice of this competitive and fast-growing market that is set to reach over $8.4 billion in annual revenue by 2024? The key is differentiating your app from what's currently on

A lot of dating apps on the market, like Tinder or Hinge, are too general and casual for serious singles to be able to find "The One." They don't appeal to a specific demographic, which makes it hard for people who know exactly what they want to make a meaningful connection. You can stand out

Delivery apps have taken the market by storm, with an expected revenue annual growth rate of over 8% and $291 billion USD in market volume by 2027. It's no surprise: they're convenient, save time, and are easy to use. With a few clicks, a delivery app can get your favorite dish or latest fashion delivered directly

What is a Live Streaming App? A live stream is multi-media digital content broadcasted by one host and transmitted to many viewers over the Internet in real-time. It can feature live events, like sports, news, a security camera feed, or on-demand content, like TV and movies. Video streaming complements social, gaming, telehealth, remote learning, online

What is HIPAA? The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 protects patient privacy and provides easy access to their medical records. While medical appointments are typically held in person, the telehealth industry has boomed over the past few years. This has introduced patients' protected health information (PHI) to a new digital environment

The most important feature of an API is that it's highly available and reliable. Unfortunately, it's hard to see a company's track record when you make the purchasing decision. At Stream we put a ton of effort into infrastructure, monitoring, high availability and ensuring you have the highest possible uptime. Our infrastructure gracefully handles server

It's always been possible to build beautiful chat applications on desktop and web using Flutter and Stream Chat with our core or low-level client chat packages. But, users can now target desktop and web using our UI package, enabling you to get the complete Stream Chat experience regardless of platform. Version 5.0.0 has been overhauled

Video conferencing technology is essential to nearly every modern business, from managing remote teams to closing deals across time zones. There are several ways video and voice calls can form a stable connection, one being peer-to-peer (P2P). This real-time communication solution is a popular choice among users who prioritize security, bandwidth, and a lightweight architecture

Over the last few months, our React Native team has been making substantial improvements to the React Native Chat SDK. Among bug fixes and other minor changes, this release introduces two new features: offline support and enhanced debugging capabilities. Offline Support Offline support has been one of our most requested features, and we're thrilled to

To help you out, we've listed our top picks of the best APIs you can use to build the best online marketplace possible. These APIs will help improve your customer engagement and retention by optimizing the most critical aspects of your online marketplace, from the second the customer hops on your website to the checkout

It's a helpful pulse check on the growth of a product and trends in user behavior. And it gives insight into how many people check your product and the perceived value from the interaction. But keep in mind that not all apps should use DAU as a measure of success. This is because not all

Did you know that 71% of app users churn in the first ninety days after downloading an app? Keeping users engaged can be tough, especially when time is precious and users are impatient to resolve actions quickly. Yet, making the effort to include features for user engagement is important for retention. There are certain app

The combination of data and storytelling is a powerful one. Steve Jobs once said, "The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come." A user scenario is a tool to imagine a user's journey when using your app.

While the benefit of these standalone functionalities is clear, there are plenty of solutions working behind the scenes, like social preferences, geo-location, and usage history that enhance UX even more. An API can make these advancements possible and affordable for engineers to integrate with their app's infrastructure. In this article, we'll cover the most common

Research from Gartner predicts that by the end of 2022, 70% of customer interactions will involve technologies like chatbots and mobile messaging. It doesn't stop there. More and more companies are already adopting chatbots as part of their customer service experience. According to data from Mordor Intelligence, the chatbot market expects to grow 34% from

A north star metric is a company's primary metric to measure its app's success. Sean Ellis, entrepreneur and founder of GrowthHackers, was the first person to coin the term. "The North Star Metric is the single metric that best captures the core value that your product delivers to customers," says Ellis. "Optimizing your efforts to

And user retention is low. Within a month of downloading an application, somewhere between 87% and 97% of its users will abandon it. The key to mitigating this high risk of churn? Meet the needs of the app's users. But when it comes time to make advancements to the app, not all users' needs should

However, too much churn could signify something wrong with your app experience. As Lincoln Murphy, founder of Sixteen Ventures, says: "Churn is a symptom of a deeper, underlying disease; that disease is a failure to ensure your customers achieve their Desired Outcome." Also, churn can be costly for your app. You spent a lot of

What is a Virtual Marketplace? The instant access to customer reviews, the negotiable prices, and the extraordinary convenience of marketplace apps is enough to give the behemoth of e-commerce a run for its money. Unlike conventional e-commerce sites, the responsibility of maintaining inventory, shipping logistics, product images, descriptions, and pricing falls on the seller. The

From playing poker to going all-in on your favorite thoroughbred, online gambling sites enable people from around the world to place bets on traditional casino games, novel games, and sports teams alike. The online gambling industry is rapidly growing, and every year more players are logging in to strike it rich. Online gambling garnered $59B

But do we stick to them? While you likely know the answer to that question, you may not know the "why" behind it. Research shows that 43% of people give up only one month after setting a fitness-related goal, with the top reasons for this outcome centered around one common denominator: lack of accountability.

Unity is one of the most popular gaming engines on the market, beloved by indie developers and AAA studios alike. The engine is largely considered beginner friendly with its robust documentation and streamlined user interface. However, designing a game from scratch can be quite an undertaking regardless of your level of experience. Inspired by Unity's

Image Source Getting new users to sign up for your app means nothing if you can't keep them engaged. You need users who will return to your app for more if you want long-term success. In fact, according to research from Localytics, 73% of mobile users will either delete an app or become inactive on

Fifty-one percent of apps are downloaded because of friends and family referrals. However, this marvelous marketing by word-of-mouth only works because users find value in engaging with your application. But driving user engagement can be tricky, especially with the unlimited app choices users have at their fingertips and a quarter of users abandoning an app

Thanks to their low barrier to entry, Unreal Engine and Unity are now two of the most popular choices beloved by indie studios and AAA game developers alike. The low-to-no pricing structure of these game engines managed to revolutionize the industry in a matter of years, convincing large publishers to abandon their old engines and

This new take on a traditionally isolating activity is made possible by the rise of chat solutions for video games. Not only do gamers love the sense of community and camaraderie that chatting with other players creates, but thanks to in-game chat, studios also enjoy the benefits of their users being more engaged, translating to

With Stream's new Angular Chat SDK, developers can quickly build and integrate Stream's enterprise-grade chat into any application written in Angular. Our SDK is built from the ground up to seamlessly integrate and scale with your project. In just a few lines of code, developers can add real-time messaging to their application using familiar Angular

Now more than ever, gaming is a social experience: according to a recent study, some 77% of gamers in the US see gameplay as an opportunity to connect with friends and make new ones. In-game chat creates a sense of community and camaraderie among players that will keep them coming back for more and

Like many great startups, FanScout started by identifying a problem. For developer David Brear, this problem occurred during a weekend trip in New York City. Brear wanted to catch the Washington Capitals playing the New York Rangers in a sports bar, an important ice hockey game. But after visiting several bars, he couldn't find

Whether you're strategizing a plan of attack with your teammates or simply looking to catch up with old pals over a game, a user-friendly communications tool can exponentially improve your favorite pastime and be the perfect alternative to in-game chat. In this article, we'll cover the top ten best gaming chat apps that'll help you

Nearly every part of the travel industry has been transformed by mobile technology. Airline passengers arrive at their gate with tickets already on their phones. Taxis are summoned using ride-sharing apps such as Lyft or Uber, where passengers message their driver directly. Scannable QR codes provide access to museums, art exhibits, sporting events, and concerts.

Take the credit card, for example. Remember the progression from swiping to inserting your chip? Now, all it takes is a simple tap of your card (or your phone) to make an in-person purchase. All three iterations of the same product were striving towards one common goal: convenience. This guiding tenant has worked its way

Image Source Each year, thousands of startups launch products that they're convinced will change the world. However, few of them will find success; according to a report by Startup Genome, only 1 out of 12 startups succeed in the long run. As a product manager, a danger you must avoid is blindly falling in love

The modern consumer demands convenience. Last year, over two billion people completed their transactions online, with sales surpassing the $4.2 trillion mark. Enabling your customers to make in-app purchases and payments is no longer considered nice to have; it's expected. But with great UX comes great responsibility, and protecting cardholder data (CHD) should be at

Image Source Modern technology has fueled the success of telemedicine, which allows doctors to treat and diagnose their clients from home, even if they're thousands of miles away. Statista expects the telemedicine market to reach a whopping $459 billion by 2030. Telemedicine combines the use of online chat and video conferencing to make healthcare accessible

Building an exceptional SaaS product is just the first step to optimizing the user experience. For customers to get the most from your platform, you also need to provide them with quality support that leads to success. That's because your SaaS customer support has a significant influence over loyalty and retention. According to research by

Whether it be for business or pleasure, traveling can often feel lonely: Travelers are typically surrounded by other people, but making that first connection can be difficult. While waiting for a flight in a crowded airport, William Cooper, co-founder of the startup travel app Abord, noticed the potential for a platform that could initiate conversations

The role of a product manager is to identify user needs and prioritize features in the product that will meet those expectations. It's why companies that are recruiting will ask you design questions during PM interviews to test your ability to solve challenges, pitch a solution, and bring a product vision to life. The CIRCLES

Camila Landivar says that her mom, Paula, has always had a magnetic personality. In her work as a fitness instructor, she's not only able to motivate people to do one more pushup, but also she inspires them to follow a more holistic and healthy lifestyle outside of the gym. That's why in early 2020, Camila

Stream is proud to announce native support for app localization (l10n) and internationalization (i18on) across four of our flagship in-app chat SDKs, including React, React Native, Flutter, and Android (Kotlin, Java, & Jetpack Compose), with support for iOS app localization coming soon. Stream's chat API, SDKs, and UI kits make it easy for developers to

Can you remember the last time you visited a brick-and-mortar bank? Neither can we. Chances are that the majority of your banking, stock trading, peer-to-peer payments, and cryptocurrency activity is now completed through an app or website. Financial technology, commonly known as fintech, is a booming industry that has already transformed how people around the

So you've designed and released a great mobile app. But your work isn't over; in fact, it's just beginning. The next step is to measure how well users respond to it and make continuous adjustments based on data for long-term success. To improve your mobile app and retain more users, you need to be measuring

When you walk into a brick-and-mortar retail store, chances are that a store employee will approach you to make a personal connection, and ask if you need help finding a specific item. This common retail practice opens the door for salespeople to connect with customers, answer questions about products, guide customers toward exactly what they

Dermatologists rely on visual assessment to diagnose and treat skin conditions, and since most patients have a phone with a camera in their pocket, telehealth tools that enable patients to capture and send images of skin lesions to their doctor seem like a no brainer. But to gauge the size, growth rate, and types of

For your product to be successful, you need to identify your users' needs at every stage of their journey. According to Salesforce, 76% of SaaS customers expect brands to have a well-rounded understanding of their needs and wants. For example, let's say you're running a workplace communication software company like Slack. The needs of your

It should be no surprise that some of the world's most popular apps contain an activity feed as their core functionality. This comprehensive guide is a crash course in activity feed types, activity feed benefits and best practices, and real-world activity feed examples and use cases. We'll also explore how you can quickly integrate a

Today's digital world has gone global. App users expect the ability to communicate with those on the other side of the world as easily as they can with a local user. When they experience delays in real-time communication, it can hurt UX and negatively impact metrics like user engagement, satisfaction, and churn. Your app needs an

User stories help product teams of all sizes conceptualize the product experience and understand users' needs. On top of that, they also align teams on shared product goals and improve collaboration. However, agile product teams need to know how to write user stories correctly in order to get the most out of them. Creating compelling

Online dating in the United States is big business. An estimated 1,500 apps are available for download on Google Play and the Apple App Store, and studies suggest that by 2024, 53.3 million Americans will use internet dating services. Online dating options abound, with many apps supporting different interests, geographical locations, and religious values. But

Telemedicine is booming, but it's not all smooth sailing. January 2023 saw a jump in telehealth use, up to 5.9% from 5.5% the month before. It sounds promising, but the industry faces hurdles behind the scenes: think regulatory red tape, tech headaches, and privacy worries. For providers and patients alike, navigating this evolving landscape is

Mobile app adoption is at an all-time high, with new app and game downloads reaching 137.8 billion in 2024. This translates to more than 262,000 apps downloaded per minute. But despite such impressive app downloads and usage metrics, the majority of apps struggle with retention rate, a key performance indicator tracking the percentage of

The more you understand your customer's user journey, the better you can tailor your product to fit their needs. However, that often feels easier said than done. Many product managers still use outdated single-list product backlogs (which are just to-do lists) that don't help PMs prioritize work according to what the customer wants. If you want to

Businesses face unique challenges when it comes to scaling enterprise live chat. While building basic messaging functionality with just a couple hundred users may be relatively straightforward for nimble startups, as apps acquire thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of users, live chat performance suffers without the right tech stack. Even minor performance issues

Dating app usage is at an all-time high. In 2019, half of Americans ages 18-29 and 38% ages 30-49 used a dating app at least once. To meet growing demand, over the past two decades dating app companies expanded from just a few early options, such as Match.com and eHarmony, to over 1,500 dating apps

Explosive growth in India's digital economy creates a promising opportunity there for app developers, with some reports estimating the sector's value at over $1 trillion by 2025. It's a particularly exciting market for those working to deliver the next generation of great in-app messaging and chat experiences. As of the third quarter of 2019,

Product growth doesn't just depend on acquiring new users; it also depends on engaging the ones you have and delivering an exceptional experience. Companies with fully engaged customers have a 55% higher share of revenue and 63% lower customer churn. You can optimize your user engagement with a better product experience. A good product experience

We ask a lot of our fitness and wellness apps. While some of them log our meals' macronutrients to keep diets on track, other apps track the pace of our weekend hike. Fitness and wellness apps keep us motivated, connect us with people who share similar fitness goals, and provide us with data such as

How can you really know what a customer needs? So much of their experience happens behind closed doors, internalized and influenced by their own perceptions of value. It's a little easier when you have a group of people together who share a similar experience or have similar needs. But you're always working with imperfect data.

With Twilio Programmable Chat's end of life approaching, product and engineering teams that rely on this popular API face a difficult decision. Twilio's official guidance indicates that Programmable Chat's web and in-app chat functionality will roll into the omnichannel Conversations API. But the transition will require app developers to make manual code updates, and

This is the work-in-progress technical guide on how to migrate to Stream Chat from Twilio Programmable Chat. If you need assistance or want to discuss your migration privately with a technical expert, please get in touch with us at support@getstream.io. Twilio Programmable Chat EOL Notice Twilio has scheduled its Programmable Chat API end of life

Personalization comes in many flavors, and the data science team at Stream can help you build your own feeds personalization engine based on your specific needs. In conjunction with our analytics client we recommend tracking every event for every user, such as clicking on a link) we use both engagement and feed data to power

React Native is known today to be one of the highest performing cross-platform frameworks, saving developers time and money by using a single source code to support multiple operating systems. This framework will play a significant role in the future of hybrid mobile apps, which is why Stream did a major revamp of its React

Dozens of new virtual event platforms launched at breakneck speed in 2020 to support the many events transitioning in-person gatherings to digital. Even established virtual event platforms geared into development mode in early 2020 to add competitive features and functionality (think: live streaming, in-app messaging, activity feeds, polls, dynamic networking, and more) to stand out

Talking finance with a robot is about as complicated as it sounds: unlike the basic live chat experience you might find on a retail website, a good fintech AI chatbot requires advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning technology for both conversation (natural language processing) and meaningful financial analysis. Driven by these requirements, chatbots in

To understand the future of technology in education, we need to know what's happening now. We've seen recent changes in the industry that seem to be paving the way for a new wave of online learning for entrepreneurs, edtech developers, instructors, and learners alike. A deep dive into these changes can show what we might

Today's internet landscape is practically unrecognizable compared to the 1990s, when AOL, MSN, GeoCities, Hotmail, and other long-gone services reigned supreme. But if you look underneath modern user experiences and the compact, high-tech devices that deliver them, you might be surprised to find that some core backend functions remain relatively unchanged. One constant across all

According to a 2018 survey by PMI, approximately 52% of projects are completed on time. When you don't deliver on time, you lose out on any potential revenue that could be gained from a new product. If time and scope creep have a negative impact on your bottom line, why do so many projects fall

When you have important messages that you want to be able to see quickly, you can use the pinned messages feature. Pinned messages are flagged as special and can be set up so that you see them at the top of your folder, channel, conversation, etc. Pinned messages are used to share information and resources

Learning management systems (LMS) are edtech tools designed to organize, store, and distribute online curriculum content to learners. They are extensively used by schools, teachers, administrators, universities, online education websites, and students to organize classwork and track course progress, and by businesses to guide employees through onboarding, training, or professional development. Learning management systems are

When Macromedia launched the Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) in the 1990s as the backbone of Flash, it established what would become the near-universal standard for multimedia streaming over the internet for more than 20 years. And although newer streaming protocols like HLS and MPEG-DASH are now used for the content distribution stages of the streaming

Live chat solutions have proven themselves key to boosting engagement, sales, and satisfaction across industries as diverse as retail ecommerce and B2B software. They help companies of all sizes extend their sales and support teams' capacity to provide personalized assistance in near real time. And it's not just businesses enjoying the increased efficiency: live

Children are going online earlier in life than ever. While they may be able to effortlessly drag, drop, and post updates on social networking sites, they haven't yet acquired the emotional maturity to use the internet mindfully. Technological ability without wisdom is one reason social media use is associated with an increased risk of depression,

In 2017, start-up darling OfferUp, fresh off a $130 million round of funding that set the company's valuation over $1 billion, was moving into a new 70,000-square-foot office near Seattle to accommodate a rapidly growing employee headcount. And the company needed some new furniture. Luckily, it knew just the place to look, eventually outfitting the

And to ensure you deliver the best value to your customers: start by evaluating the internal infrastructure your team uses. A software development kit (SDK) is a helpful toolbox for improving the value of your product offer for customers and improving the software development process for your team. The software development kit is one

The core subjects of mathematics, science, English, and history are critical to academic success. However, many institutions fail to teach essential skills for career development, such as effective email and video chat communication, managing client relations, and more. Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin Education, identified this learning gap while working as a broadcast journalist in

Tech stack decisions are unique to each edtech messaging solution, and it is up to product managers and developers to understand their specific requirements. Leveraging technology providers to support app development and user growth is key to building a scalable, reliable, and cost-effective tool for school systems, teachers, parents, and students. Recent edtech industry growth

When buying or selling used items online, where is the first place people turn? Ask six people, and you may get six different answers. But a common option, or at least consideration, remains Craigslist. Perhaps because of its first-to-the-party status (est. 1995) and subsequent success, the company's brand remains sturdy decades later, maintaining an undeniable

A chat app generates a lot of data based on user interactions. In some cases, such as when you need to provide chat transcripts of a livestream event to the event organizer, it's essential to have easy access to that data in a flexible format. You can then transform the data into your preferred format

Follow these tips to create a user-friendly live chat experience that drives customer satisfaction without feeling intrusive.

If edtech tools were important to school systems and educators before 2020, they are now essential to engage students in remote or hybrid learning models. A new era of technology-dependent education calls for improved solutions and virtual classrooms to manage exponential user growth. This guide is a comprehensive roadmap of how to build an effective

For nearly two decades, Stephen Green has played a major role in reimagining the scope and direction of higher education among U.S. colleges and universities. Green currently serves as Chief Program Officer at Noodle Partners, the country's leading provider of online program management, where he develops innovative strategies to assist colleges and universities in providing

It's common in chat apps to encounter users who engage in disruptive behavior such as trolling or even scamming, especially as the chat community grows in user count. Stream Chat already provides many moderation tools to help you deal with these problematic users in specific ways. Stream Chat recently gained a new moderation tool to

Telemedicine is now the preferred channel for patients needing prescriptions and to treat minor illnesses; 80% of consumers have used a telemedicine app at least once. According to research by McKinsey, telemedicine app usage is 38 times higher than pre-COVID pandemic usage. People are realizing the benefits and convenience that come with virtual healthcare, and

If you've ever taken an entry-level course at a public university, you know lectures can contain upwards of 500 students, making it next to impossible to get one-on-one time with your professor. Recognizing the communication challenges in higher education, entrepreneur Tade Oyerinde founded Campuswire, an intuitive website and app designed to connect professors with their

There are thousands of apps and online tools designed to help students learn mathematics, but for math teacher and software developer Rob Percival, they all failed in one critical way: While most tools grade students after they complete a problem, few have the ability to indicate where they made a mistake in their work. Recognizing

As your chat app grows in user count, it's expected to encounter users who misbehave and share content in undesirable ways. To help you deal with this issue most efficiently, Stream is continually building new moderation tools to help tackle these problems in specific ways. Stream's newest moderation tool is the shadow ban. Also known

Live chat is now the preferred support channel for customers between the ages of 18 and 49. Customers prefer to use live chat because they receive real-time support without having to wait for a live operator. They're able to get support at a time - and in a form - that's most convenient for them.

Whether it's a text to update your partner on dinner plans or a Slack message from your colleague following up on a new project, live chat messaging is everywhere. It's how we talk to one another for work, how we game together, how we follow up on purchases, and how we contact support. When your

In its simplest form, livestream chat is a real-time message board whose participants are communicating in the moment. The practice has gained significant popularity over the last several years, and is accelerating during the last six months, with apps like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, and Periscope all adopting the experience within their platforms. Live

From company-wide Zoom meetings to international conferences going digital, virtual events are here to stay. In fact, Will Smith and Kevin Hart just backed Run The World, a (pandemic-proof) virtual events startup. New! Stream now offers a Live Video Streaming API! Live events turned livestream, from political rallies to virtual concerts, are often

Messaging apps make it easy to communicate and connect with people around the world. However, with new ways to communicate and connect via technology, there are also new ways for your privacy and security to be breached. Private messages could potentially be read by third parties, the organizations behind the apps, and governments who collect

If a company adds chat to its app, it may have its own customer base. If you're building a SaaS application, one customer must not have access to the chat information of another customer, primarily if these customers exist within the same competitive landscape. For example, imagine if a company had both Nike and Adidas

About Betabrand Betabrand is an online women's apparel company known for Dress Pant Yoga Pants and other activewear for everything from work to travel. The brand's customers participate in the design process by voting on new clothing concepts and providing their feedback, helping the company bring the best new products to market based on their