Aishwarya Aggarwal
Listen to this articleOTT platforms have changed the TV viewing experience across the globe. Cable TV has become a thing of the past, and people are turning to streaming services — driven by the desire for ad-free, on-demand content. In fact, research shows that cable TV providers lost nearly 5 million subscribers in 2020, and these numbers will continue to grow in 2021 and beyond.
The OTT industry is witnessing an increased competition as many new players are emerging every year, thus intensifying the battle. One such platform is Amazon Fire TV that is taking over the television industry by storm. So, if you want to have the edge over your competitors and reach a wider audience, building an Amazon Fire TV app is your best bet.
In this article, I will walk you through three different ways of creating your Fire TV app. But first, let’s see what Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV app mean in general.
So, let’s get right into it.
Table of Contents:
1. What are Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV App?
2. Why Should You Build an Amazon Fire TV App?
3. Steps To Build Your Amazon Fire TV App
4. Cost of Building an Amazon Fire TV App
What are Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV App?
Amazon Fire TV, popularly known as FireStick, is a new-age media streaming device that turns your dumb TV into a smart one. It allows you to access tens of thousands of channels in all possible categories, such as movies, series, music, sports, and so on. Plus, all the models of Fire TV are enabled with the in-built virtual assistant — Alexa — which provides a convenient, hands-free viewing experience.
An Amazon Fire TV app is a video streaming app that you can download from the Amazon App Store. These apps are available to users all over the world and allow them to stream any content they subscribed for — on their Amazon Fire TV.
Amazon Fire TV runs on the Fire OS operating system, which is based on Android. This means all the apps compatible with Android are most likely to run on Amazon Fire TV too.
With our all-inclusive platform — Ventuno — you can create a Fire TV app in just a matter of clicks. It comes equipped with tons of features, ranging from uploading and organizing your content to customizing your design as per your brand visuals and tracking the performance of your videos.
Why Should You Build an Amazon Fire TV App?
Amazon Fire TV is similar to all other streaming devices, such as Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and so on. So, why should you consider building a Fire TV app? Let’s find out.
Amazon Fire TV is the latest buzz in the smart TV world today. With more than 50 million monthly users worldwide, it has become a crucial part of the consumers’ living rooms — and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Since the fire TV houses all your content in one place — from movies and series to sports and other programs — it can be your perfect traveling partner. All you need is to plug the device into any compatible TV and get access to all your favorite content.
With such a huge demand and numerous benefits, building a Fire TV app is not something that you would want to miss out on.
Steps To Build Your Amazon Fire TV App
New to creating an app? You’re not alone. Let’s discuss the three main approaches to build your Amazon Fire TV app.
1. Publish Amazon Fire TV Apps Using Amazon Creator
Let’s face it: Building an app can be overwhelming for content creators and businesses. But what if we told you that Amazon provides a simple, intuitive way to showcase your video content on Fire TV?
Amazon Creator is an online, simple-to-use publishing tool that allows you to create an Amazon Fire TV app in minutes — without any programming skills.
Here’s how you can do this in three simple steps:
Create
First, sign in to the Amazon Creator account using your Amazon account. Then, add or provide a link to your YouTube channel or Media RSS (MRSS) feed. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is an online file that contains details about every content you have published on your site. MRSS is an RSS extension used for syndicating the audio, video, and image files in the RSS feed.
After adding the link, the Amazon Creator will automatically generate a feature-rich Fire TV app, which you can submit directly for review.
Preview
After you create your app, make sure to preview a fully functional version of your app in your browser or through a test app on Fire TV devices. This will help you customize the look and feel of your app with the colors and images you want.
Publish
Once your app is styled, you’re ready to publish it in the Amazon Appstore for review. Here, you will need to provide descriptions and metadata about your app to promote it within the Appstore. And as soon as your app passes the review process, it will be available to all Amazon Fire TV users.
However, publishing your app in the Amazon Appstore is not enough — it is just the first step towards building a successful Fire TV app. The main challenge lies in increasing its visibility and downloads by sharing it with others. Plus, you must hire a developer to upgrade and maintain your Fire TV app — which further adds to the overall cost.
2. Hire a Developer or Team of Developers
If it’s a more customized Fire TV app you want, then hiring a developer or team of developers can be your best bet.
Having a dedicated team of developers provides detailed customization based on your individual needs. When working under the same roof as your developers, you can oversee each step of the app development process and incorporate various innovative solutions in your app. And don’t forget the flexibility and control you’ll have over it.
If you opt for this method, you’ll have to build an OTT platform from scratch — to manage all your OTT operations. The platform should consist of the following features:
1. Video CMS – To upload, organize, and distribute your video content.
2. Video Analytics – To get a complete overview of your entire video content. Analytics include video engagement, watch time, users, purchases, and so on.
3. Integrations – To connect with other necessary tools to run your OTT business successfully.
4. Servers – To auto-scale when the demand increases or decreases.
5. Monetization – To monetize your videos and earn money through all possible ways, such as SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, and so on.
6. Ad Server – To manage ad campaigns.
7. CDN – To deliver content effortlessly across the globe.
8. Storage – To store video content effectively.
However, this is ideal for high-budget content creators who have the resources to create and manage an app from scratch. You can easily expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars on the development and maintenance of your Fire TV app.
3. Use a SaaS Platform
Now let’s discuss one of the most rewarding ways for Amazon Fire TV app development.
Building a customized Fire TV app involves a lot of cost and time. This is where using a SaaS platform, like Ventuno, comes into play. This is a budget-friendly option that provides ready-made templates. These come with in-built infrastructure, tools, and support to build your Amazon Fire TV app.
White-labeled SaaS platforms, like Ventuno, bring a variety of features to the table, such as uploading and organizing your content, storage options, monetization, tracking analytics, live streaming, and many more.
Here’s how Ventuno works:
1. Select which app you want to launch. In this case, it’s the Fire TV app.
2. Choose the template design and start customizing it with your branding.
3. Upload your video content.
4. Set up your monetization strategy (SVOD, AVOD, TVOD).
5. Go live and share your app with the world.
6. Track your video analytics, such as watch time, subscriptions, purchases, users, etc.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?
In a nutshell, you get a platform to manage your OTT operations — all under one roof. You don’t need to learn any coding or hire developers. Just purchase the plan that suits your needs and leave your entire Fire TV app development with the specialized team of developers.
The best part? There’s zero upfront cost. All you need is to pay the fixed monthly fee and a variable usage-based fee — and you can cancel anytime.
Furthermore, if you want to build additional features or custom design, the developers’ team is always at your service. You can personalize your Fire TV app as per your brand’s visual needs. Choose a theme that suits your brand, add different functions according to your preferences, and even integrate third-party apps seamlessly to manage your payments, and so on.
Furthermore, we regularly update your Fire TV app according to the latest trends and make sure it’s running properly. Not only that, you get a dedicated account manager who helps you set up and grow your OTT business.
Cost of Building an Amazon Fire TV App
Now that you’re aware of the different methods, let’s get into what it can cost you to build an Amazon Fire TV app from scratch.
When it comes to building an app on your own, you need to invest a lot of time, effort, and money into it. And apps that target many features and customization — require even more.
Hiring a full-time developer or team of developers can cost you anywhere between $10,000 to $50,000 for developing the app alone. And don’t forget the time and cost of maintaining the apps. You would need at least 2 developers to maintain your backend and the apps. In the US, the salary of a good developer starts at $75,000/ year.
However, with a SaaS platform, like Ventuno, the charges mentioned above are next to none. You only need to pay a fixed monthly fee for the platform — which starts from $299/month — and a variable fee based on the usage.
Over To You
Amazon Fire TV is making quite the waves in the OTT industry. So, if you are a content creator looking to capitalize on this growing trend, creating a customized Fire TV application can give your brand a chance to stand out among the crowd. Plus, provide access to high-quality content to your users — resulting in a wonderful streaming experience.
As you can see, there are mainly three methods involved in the Fire TV app development — publish it using Amazon Creator, hire developers, or use a SaaS platform according to your business needs. Out of these, the third option looks more promising than the other two as it is more cost-effective. Plus, you’ll get your app ready in just a few clicks.
So, what are you waiting for? Choose the best option suited to your business needs and grow your OTT audience now.
What are your thoughts on this article? reach out to us at info@ventunotech.com if you would like to discuss!
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