How to Develop a News App Like Gulf News?

In the technologically forward country where everything is available instantly and on the go to its people, news is also no exception.

In the UAE, the popular digital news platform Gulf News redefined the way its people consume journalism. From real-time updates to multimedia storytelling and personalized feeds, everything is available in a sleek mobile app, Gulf News.

Many entrepreneurs, publishers, and startups in the UAE are inspired by the success of the Gulf News app to create a daily digital companion for millions of readers. To develop an app like Gulf News is not just about coding, but more than that.

Want to know what it takes to create the next big news app in the UAE?

Follow this blog till the end to get complete information.

Let’s get started.

A Close Look at the Gulf News App

The Gulf News app is a digital news platform introduced by the Gulf News newspaper, Dubai, one of the prominent names among the English-language newspapers in the UAE. The aim is famous for delivering real-time news, articles, and multimedia content covering local and global events.

It is one of the best news apps in the Gulf region that comes with several attractive features like breaking news alerts, in-depth analysis, and more. The app covers a wide range of news subjects like politics, business, lifestyle, and more.

The app is also considered by users as their first choice for Gulf News classified and Gulf News jobs. The Gulf News app has several engaging factors, which include push notifications, bookmarking, and personalised feeds.

The features of the app also keep the users informed about their personalised interests. Gulf News offers a complete news ecosystem that can connect readers to reliable journalism anytime and anywhere.

Statistics Showing the Growth of Digital Media in the UAE

The digital news sector of the UAE has shown strong and consistent growth for a long time because of broader internet access and high smartphone penetration. We will prove this claim with some attractive market numbers of the digital media in the UAE.

• In the year 2023, the digital media market generated about $8,288.5 million in revenue.
• It is expected that by the year 2030, the digital media market of the UAE will generate a revenue of $18,476.5 million.
• Thus, during the forecast period, it is expected that the digital media market of the UAE will grow at a CAGR of 12.2%.
• Additionally, it is expected that by the year 2030, the digital newspapers and magazines will reach the market volume of $78.96 billion.

• Also, the user penetration in the digital newspaper and magazine sector of the UAE may reach 37.9% by the year 2030.

Thus, the above reports clearly say that the market of digital media in the UAE will only grow. This makes it a suitable ecosystem for businesses to turn their mobile app ideas, like Gulf News, into a thriving reality.

Steps to Build a News App Like Gulf News

You end up on this blog with the intention to learn how to develop an app like Gulf News. Let me tell you, it is crucial to follow the exact strategic steps to build a robust and successful news app in the UAE that can stand out.

To make things easier for you, we have covered the stepwise development procedure below. However, if you feel it is challenging for you to follow the process, then it will be best to hire mobile app developers.

Let’s get into the news app development steps.

Step 1: Research and Planning

Start with thorough research and gathering information from the competitor apps that help you in planning your own news app. Take a closer look at the features of the Gulf News app and other competitors.

Then take a closer look at the audience to understand their demand. This will help you to plan your news app correctly, to meet audience demands and gaps.

Step 2: Define Features

Now, choosing the right features for your news app is one of the important steps to build a mobile app in Dubai, just like Gulf News. The feature sets it apart from the other news apps in the UAE.

Make sure you choose smart, advanced, and unique features that help your app stand apart from the competition. Here are a few of the features of the news app Gulf News mentioned below.

• Alert for Breaking News

While you create an app like Gulf News, make sure it has a feature that offers real-time alerts for breaking news to the users.

• Local Videos

Then comes the feature of local videos, which is also the core feature of Gulf News. This video presents on-the-ground reports, interviews, and explainers.

• Comprehensive News Coverage

The app must cover local news to international news from different niches, which include business, lifestyle, travel, technology, sports, and more.

• Podcasts

Your news app must offer its users the convenience of listening to podcasts on the go. It will give users the chance to listen to in-depth discussions on numerous topics.

• Stories Bookmarking

One of the best features of the Gulf News app of the UAE is that users are able to save important news articles to read later. Saved articles can be revisited anytime.

Step 3: UI/UX Design

Start the UI/UX design of the news, similar to the Gulf News, where you have to make sure the app is easy to navigate and attractive.

Create the prototype of the news app to test it with potential users or stakeholders and take their suggestions for required changes. In this step, you have to design all the features of the app, its icon, and set the background colour.

Step 4: App Development

Next, start to develop a news app in Dubai, the same to the leading name Gulf News. This step is covered by the frontend and backend development of the app. In frontend development, you have to make sure the UI/UX design of the app can be transformed into an intuitive app interface.

Then, in backend development, you have to integrate APIs, databases, and payment gateways, and you have to make sure all the features of the app are working perfectly.

Step 5: Test & QA

Now that the app development process is done, jump to the next step, where you have to test the app to make sure it offers the best performance. This step is important to offer users a bug-free and the best experience.

You have to carry out a performance test, a security test, a usability test, a functionality test, and others.

Step 6: Deploy and Promote

As you have tested your app and you are sure that the app is free from bugs and other issues, it is ready to deploy or launch. Launch the app on various app download platforms like Google Play, Apple Store, and third-party platforms.

Potential users will install the app for their use from those platforms. Make sure to promote the app on social media to create a buzz and attract more people.

Step 7: Post-Launch Maintenance

The app development process doesn’t end with launch, but post-launch maintenance is also a crucial part of the development process.

The users must not face any issues while using the app, so you must keep the app under monitoring. Solve the arising issues immediately, keep the OS updated with the latest one, add trending features, keep security patches updated, etc.

Cost to Develop an App Like Gulf News

We already suggested to you above to go for a mobile app startup or an organisation that will make the whole app development process much easier. For this, you must create a budget so that the app development process doesn’t burn down your pocket.

To create a better and more focused budget, you must have an idea of the mobile app development cost. Thus, the average cost ranges from $20,000 to $150,000 and more. The cost depends on factors that influence the cost.

The factors are listed below for your understanding.

➢ Feature Complexity

The complexity of the features is one of the several core factors that determine the news app development cost. To build an app like Gulf News and make it stand out, features need to be unique and smart.

➢ Developers Location

The location of the developers decides the development cost of the mobile app. There are onshore developers who belong to the same country and offshore developers who belong to other countries. The former is costlier than the latter option.

➢ Post Launch Support

Post-launch support is a part of the mobile app development process, and it also determines the development cost. This process includes several tasks, from keeping the app in a stable position to updating the feature, OS, and more.

➢ Third-Party Integrations

A news app like Gulf News comes with several features, which means it needs to integrate several APIs. Services like analytics tools, push notification services, and payment gateways are integrated, which affect the overall cost.

Strategies to Make Money from Your News App

Your news app can be an excellent bridge for your business to create a stream of consistent revenue. There are several strategies that you need to apply to allow your app to make money.

Here are a few of the strong app monetization strategies that we have mentioned below for your knowledge.

1] In-app Advertisement

The in-app advertisements allow other brands or businesses to run ads in your app that can be randomly placed. This will give those brands a placement for promotions, and you get a way to make money.

2] Sponsored Content

Now, sponsored content is also kind of like ads, but they blend perfectly within the news content and are now shown in a banner. This is paid content created by the businesses or brands marked as “Sponsored” or “Promoted”.

3] Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a common tactic that can earn revenue for businesses based on performance. Products and services will be promoted within your app, and whenever anyone buys through referral links, your app will earn commission.

4] Subscription Model

Now comes the subscription model, which is one of the excellent ways for your app to make money. As per this, you will provide premium features to the users on payment of a fixed annual or monthly subscription.

Nimble AppGenie is the Right Nobile App Development Partner in the UAE

This blog must be convincing enough to turn your raw idea of a news app, just like Gulf News, into reality. Thus, if you want to save your time, efforts and enjoy a seamless app development process, it is best to invest in the right mobile app development partner.

To figure out how to choose an app development company in the UAE, you can make a complete analysis from checking the company profile to portfolio, developers’ expertise, clients’ revenue, and more. However, to make this process easy for you, we are mentioning the name of the best development partner, Nimble AppGenie.

We are the leading mobile app development company in Dubai, famous for our robust and innovative news app development solutions. We have the best team of expert mobile app developers who can manage the whole development process from scratch and also offer post-launch support.

The best thing about us is that we have app development expertise in a diverse niche from news to fitness, music, healthcare, and more.

Conclusion

To compete or stand out, the Gulf News app must create a powerful digital newsroom that keeps users engaged and coming back for more. The secret is to perfectly blend the robust technologies, intuitive design, and quality journalism in the same place.

You are well aware of the whole process to develop an app like Gulf News that establishes unique standards. For the best result, you must choose the right mobile app development company.

Now create a trustworthy companion that feeds millions of readers with global and local news in real time.

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