ReactJS: A Good Idea for an Interactive Chat Application?

Gone were the days when people relied solely on their analog mobile devices to stay connected with their families and friends. With the continuous advancement in technology and the advent of smartphones and other internet-connected mobile devices, communication has become better and more sophisticated. The messaging and communication trends are constantly changing. And these days, they are seen leaning toward the chat application revolution.

Interactive chat app: the newest communication trend in the digital era

The popularity of messaging apps is continuously increasing day by day. They even became more popular and widely used than social media networks.  According to The Messaging Apps Report posted by Business Insider, the top four messaging apps in the world (Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger) have already overshadowed the four giant social media platforms (Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Facebook) in terms of the number of active monthly users. 

Interactive chat apps are now considered the newest communication trend. And there are many reasons why people are now shifting from Short Message Service (SMS) to messaging or chat apps. One primary reason is that chat apps provide solutions to the primary challenges people usually experience with SMS.

                                           Here’s a quick comparison between standard SMS and messaging apps.

Why should you consider building your own interactive chat app and how chatbot works?

Interactive chat apps offer a lot of benefits- whether you are planning to build something like Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger that people can use to connect and communicate or you want to integrate a chat app into your existing website or mobile app. 

Below are some of the primary reasons why you should consider building your own interactive chat app.

• Chat apps are now more important than ever
• Widely used worldwide
• Increasing demand
• Marketing
• Availability of messaging in your locality
• Monetization

1. Chat apps are more important now than ever

Chat-based applications are no longer regarded as just a luxury apps, but as a necessity. With everyone now turning online, having a fast and reliable mode of communication has become more important than ever. Messaging applications allow people to connect and interact with each other more quickly, efficiently, and smoothly.

2. Widely used worldwide

The use of messaging apps is not only limited to communication between friends and families. They are also being used by schools, businesses, and organizations worldwide. In a research report published by Statista Research Development, an estimated 2.25 billion mobile phone users worldwide used messaging apps to communicate in 2018. And this figure is projected to hit the 3 billion approximation by 2022. These figures show how fast the mobile chat app market is growing these days.

3. Increasing demand

With the ongoing pandemic, many industries, businesses, and educational institutions around the world are now transitioning from office-based operations to work-from-home and homeschooling set-ups. This shift has resulted in a significant increase in demand for different applications like messaging apps. Businesses and companies in different industries as well as schools, colleges, and other educational institutions that have transitioned to home-based options leverage the power of chatbots to communicate and collaborate. And this trend is expected to continue in the coming years even after the pandemic. 

4. Marketing

The internet-based messaging applications used to be just for chatting and connecting with friends. As chatbot app development companies continue to innovate and build advanced features, however, messaging apps have become an effective marketing tool. Many chatbot app developers, businesses, and companies nowadays use chat applications to promote their brand, reach and engage with their target market, and build lasting relationships with their past and current customers. 

When it comes to marketing, the rule of thumb is to be where your target market is. And in this highly digital era, you can find your target market on smartphones and other internet-powered devices. More and more customers are now using various kinds of messenger apps and they expect to find their favorite brands on such platforms, too. Simply put, you should consider using messenger apps or better yet, building your own chat app with the help of a top chatbot app developer because your target market is using them. Taking your slice of the market share pie and cementing your spot in the chat app industry will give you a better edge over your competitors. 

5. Availability of messaging in your locality

The consumer messaging app market is generally dominated by major players like Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger. But not all countries and territories around the world have access to these dominant giant brands. If you have done your own market research and you believe that you can build a market in your locality, developing a local chat app would be a viable project. By doing so, you will not only provide your local market with an innovative way to connect, but it is also a great way to establish your brand.

6. Monetization

Chatbot app development services and businesses can leverage user-based chat applications to generate income. App monetization will allow you to earn money using a messaging application. There are different ways to monetize a chat app. Building paid apps, integrating in-app purchases, advertising, and affiliate marketing are just some of the different strategies businesses can use to monetize a messaging app.

The best mobile and web app technologies for interactive chat app development

Consumers’ needs are constantly changing. To keep up with these changes, React native app development companies need to also innovate and adhere to the evolving technologies unceasingly. Only by doing so, React. JS development companies can be able to meet the growing consumer demands and at the same time create new opportunities for new chat app brands to compete with the major industry players and gain market share. 

In order to create a superior quality chat app that would cater for the varying needs of the end-users and different industries, a chatbot app development company has to make critical decisions first regarding the infrastructure, protocols, frameworks, back-end coding languages, and front-end coding languages. These technology essentials can either break or make your chat app. They also determine the level of difficulty and the length of time a chatbot app development agency needs to create the chat app that fits your company’s needs and requirements. That is why it is critical to pick the right tools and frameworks. 

 1. Messaging app frameworks

The frameworks are among the critical technologies that you need to develop a messaging app. These frameworks will support the functionality of the app and at the same time scale down the manual labor needed to establish such functionality. Among the most widely used frameworks that React.JS development services agencies use to build top-of-the-line messaging apps are Chat App Protocols and Message Markup Language (MML).

 2. Messaging app development tools

Another important technology that you need in building a messaging app is the development tool. The right development tools can help you build an app without having to start from scratch. The top three most popularly used development tools that ReactJs app development services use for building chat apps are WebSockets & Socket.io, Chat Messaging APIs & SDKs, and Firebase. 

3.  Messaging app code languages

Choosing coding languages will depend on different factors. Among these factors are:

• How do you plan to build the messaging app? Whether you want to build from scratch or you want to start with something that already exists and is readily available for you to use.
• Scalability. If you want a scalable messaging app, the best option is to go for a coding language that offers a higher-level library. One best options is ReactJS. This ultimate coding language has a library that consists of a complete set of tools such as React Developer Tools and Redux Developer Tools that are essential for the development and deployment of engaging chat application features. 
• Purpose and reason. There are different reasons why a React.JS development company or a business wants to build a messaging app. It can be because you want to add a messaging feature to your website, collaboration tool, online marketplace, or web or mobile application to make it more interactive and to provide your customers or visitors with a better and faster way to connect with each other and with you. If this is so, it would be best not to build a chat server on your own. Or perhaps you want to build a real-time, interactive messaging app that includes more complex features. Regardless of the reason or purpose, you should pick the coding language that would best match your needs and goals. 

It is also best to pick the coding language you are most comfortable with. 

   4. Coding language options

For back-end messaging app coding language, the best options are Python and C#. Go, Java, PHP, Scala, Ruby, and JavaScript.On the other hand, the most suitable options for front-end messaging app coding languages are Flutter, Kotlin or Java (Android), Swift (iOS), React Native (JavaScript), and React (JavaScript).

Of these coding languages, the best options are React and React Native. React is the best option for web-based messaging applications while React Native is a perfect choice if you want to build a mobile version of a messaging app. React Native also allows you to use the same codebase across multiple platforms, especially for iOS and Android. 

Setting up a ReactJS application is quite easier and more straightforward as compared to other languages. This open-source UI layer that is based on JavaScript libraries is also cost-effective and offers a larger framework for app building, especially for cross-platform apps. In general, ReactJS offers a solid and reliable front-end language for messaging applications. 

A quick overview of ReactJs

ReactJs is increasingly gaining popularity among web and mobile app development companies and independent application developers around the world today. This is primarily due to speed and simplicity. ReactJs, or simply React, is a free, and renowned open-source front-end JavaScript library that focuses mainly on the view layer. The other complexities are left for the React web development company to run and manage.

This allows the React development company better control over the implementation of different chat app features. This Facebook developed and maintained an open-source library that is perfect for building software and applications that require constant data refreshing especially on its UI. This is why many developers favor the use of ReactJS in developing and adding interactive elements like chat functionality on web apps or websites.  

In the latest 2021 survey conducted by Stack Overflow, React.JS is the most wanted web framework that developers use for developing web applications. It was also found out that over 69% or one out of four developers love React. JS. This makes React.JS the third most used web framework, next to Svelte, ASP.NET Core, and FastAPI which garnered 71.47% and 70.04%, respectively.

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The results of the survey also showed that over 25% of developers want React.JS, making it the top one most wanted web framework in 2021. This percentage rating also revealed that more developers want and choose to develop web applications with React.JS technology or language and many others have expressed their interest in developing a React app.

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The 2021 survey also revealed that React.Js has surpassed jQuery and won the top spot on the most commonly used web frameworks by professional developers, with over 41% rating.

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What makes ReactJs an excellent choice for building a sophisticated interactive chat application?

ReactJS has taken the front-end development arena by storm. It is used and trusted by industry tycoons like Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and WhatsApp.

Known as a flexible, efficient, and declarative JavaScript library, ReactJS is no doubt an excellent choice for building a sophisticated, simple, scalable, and fast interactive chat application. Because of the growing popularity of ReactJS, many companies and businesses are wondering what features a React chat app can bring to the table and why the industry giants trust this front-end language. Here are a few reasons why the top React native app developer agencies opt to build a chat application with React.JS. 

1. Unbeatable speed

React’s speed is one of the reasons why a competitive React web development company would choose it over other options. It helps boost the development process speed by allowing the React.JS development company to use individual elements of the application on both the server and client sides. This makes the React.JS web development company able to let different developers write the individual elements and implement changes without messing up the application logic.

2. Simplified scripting 

ReactJS makes the overall process of scripting components simpler and cleaner. To make scripting better, smoother, and more comfortable, you can use JSX- a free syntax JavaScript extension. JSX simplifies the rendering of a subcomponent and HTML quoting. This can significantly improve site performance and boost development efficiency. 

3. Intuitive and easy to use

This is perhaps one of the best things about ReactJS. Any React app development company with basic conventional JavaScript knowledge can utilize ReactJS in creating an innovative interactive chat application. This lightweight, intuitive, and easy to use framework makes the writing of components effortless as it facilitates the overall writing process. 

4.Flexibility

React code is easier and more flexible than any other front-end framework. It is also easier to maintain. Thanks to its modular structure that helps simplify the overall chat app development process. This feature can help lower down the cost and the time needed in developing a messaging app. 

5. Mobile-friendly

React is basically a framework designed for web application development projects. And because of this, many think that you can only build a web-based chat application with ReactJS. The thing is, React offers more than just that. React is quite a mobile-centric framework that allows developers to build an equally amazing mobile chat application.Facebook has recently introduced React Native. It is the same framework as ReactJS but it is specifically developed for cross-platform applications. This upgraded framework allows developers to build mobile native applications for iOS and Android platforms.

What makes React more awesome is the fact that both mobile and web app development follows the same design pattern. This makes it possible for you to integrate the process you have in developing a web app to your mobile chat app development project, should you need to create a mobile version of your web-based messaging app. Among the most fantastic mobile chat applications that are built with React Native are Instagram, Mobile Skype, QQ, Bunch, and the Discord iOS app. These are just some of the reasons why a lot of developers love ReactJS for their chat application development projects. Here is a complete list of the astonishing benefits of ReactJS.

Endnote

Messaging apps are becoming more and more popular these days.  And while there are currently many framework options available to choose from for chat application development, ReactJS continues to amaze mobile and web chat application developers. So, when it comes to the query about whether or not it is a great option for building an interactive chat application, the verdict is clear – ReactJS is certainly an excellent choice! ReactJS is not just a great option but also a viable and fantastic framework choice. If you want to create a web chat app that is as superlative as WhatsApp, QQ, Bunch, Discord, and Skype, then without a doubt, ReactJS can make your dream app a reality. Hire Reactjs Developers today and get your best app built with top-notch quality and features and then gift it to the world!