Uniting Readers and Writers: How to Create an app like Wattpad
Storytelling has a greater impact than ever in today’s interconnected world. As a result of apps like Wattpad, communication between readers and authors has been revolutionized, resulting in the emergence of a global literary community where ideas and stories can grow. This article serves as a guide for anyone interested in developing reading apps like Wattpad for digitally connecting readers and authors. We’ll go over the basics of making a reading app, the key features to include, and the best way to develop such an app. Get ready to embark on a journey of will unite readers and writers through the magic of technology.
What Is Wattpad, and What Is So Special About It?
You’ve probably heard about Wattpad here or there, especially if you were a teenager in the 2010s. Wattpad is one of the most popular and significant online reading platforms in the world. Wattpad’s first and foremost mission was to change the way people read and interact with stories, which is what the platform has effectively achieved since the day it was established. It all started in 2006, when two developers and entrepreneurs started to think about a way that people could share and read stories. The two entrepreneurs also wanted people to connect over the stories they read and help inspire beginner writers to start their own. After many brainstorming sessions that took place in a garage in Ontario, Canada, Wattpad emerged as an outstanding and novel concept. It is safe to say that Wattpad paved the way for many digital reading apps and platforms.
The prosperity of Wattpad took some time, and it wasn’t until 4 years later, in 2010, that users started to discover the platform and Wattpad successfully hit 1 million users. It all changed significantly after that, and it was a turning point as the platform started to achieve outstanding outcomes continuously. In 2014, there were over 28 million stories uploaded and published, and plenty of them were turned into best-selling books, movies, and Tv shows
What makes Wattpad special is the plethora of genres you can choose from. You are interested in fiction. Got it. Vampire? Easy. Mystery and the paranormal? Piece of cake.
How Do Apps Like Wattpad Benefit Both Readers and Writers?
The list of advantages that Wattpad provides for users can go on forever. But let us break it down in a simple way and compare it from both the readers’ and writers’ perspectives.
For writers, Wattpad was able to create this safe and spacious place for them to wander and set their minds free. People interested in writing from all over the world were able to finally show their work and get the recognition they always sought. As it was very hard for writers, especially beginners, to get publishing deals or recognition. However, Wattpad provided them with this and even more. They started writing about everything they liked: fiction, mythologies, history, poems, etc. This helped shape Wattpad into a rich library with millions of excellent books.
As per readers, Wattpad expanded their capability to express what they feel about the books they are reading. Additionally, the platform created a powerful community where readers from all around the world could communicate and discuss various topics. Keep in mind that many people don’t have the privilege to purchase books or join book clubs to express their thoughts and opinions. Thus, Wattpad came as a very great solution for such a situation. This is a feature that was not found in platforms that came before, which easily made Wattpad peculiar amongst the crowd.
4 Apps Like Wattpad to Inspire You
Inkitt
Inkitt is a well-liked program that provides access to several novels and short stories. Whether you’re looking for romance, fantasy, mystery, or some other genre, Inkitt has you covered. The app promotes a thriving and encouraging writing community by helping its users find new books to read and connect with other readers. Inkitt is a fantastic alternative to Wattpad for creative inspiration because to its intuitive interface and abundance of available content.
Amazon Kindle
Needless to say, the Amazon Kindle app is widely used because of its extensive book selection, which includes both mainstream and independent publications. The app may lack the interactivity of a platform like Wattpad, but it makes it easy to explore different genres and writers, leading to the discovery of exciting, high-quality, and great works. Kindle provides a convenient and adaptable reading experience by allowing the user to change the size of the text, highlight passages, and make notes. There is a wide variety of books available on Amazon Kindle, from fiction and mystery to productivity.
Commaful
When it comes to reading and sharing stories, Commaful is another app that stands out for being both innovative and aesthetically pleasing. Commaful is a visual storytelling platform that integrates text with visual elements like images, animations, and videos instead of just text. Those who enjoy a more visual kind of storytelling will appreciate how this makes the reading experience more engaging and dynamic. If you’re looking for a place to share your stories in a new and exciting way, Commaful has everything you need with its diverse selection of genres and welcoming community of authors and readers.
Kobo Books
Kobo Books is a fantastic choice for readers who are looking for an alternative to Wattpad. The app has an extensive library of eBooks and audiobooks, covering many different subject areas and written by many different authors. Finding new and interesting books to read is made simple with the app’s personalized suggestions based on your reading history and interests. The reading experience on Kobo Books may be tailored to the individual with tools like scalable fonts, highlighting, and notes. Kobo Books caters to every type of reader, whatever genre or type of book they prefer.
Developing an App Like Wattpad: Key Features to Consider
User Profile
For reading apps like Wattpad, user profiles are a very big deal, especially for writers. So, if you are going to develop an app like Wattpad, you should definitely consider incorporating a robust user profile feature that can display more than just the name. Users should be able to display their usernames, a brief description of them, and their interests. Also, there should be a section that shows their work, if they have any
Social and Community Features
As we stated previously, what makes Wattpad special is the readers’ and writers’ ability to communicate and engage with published stories. Social and community features like comments, likes, sharing, and forwarding should also be present in your app.
Messaging Features
In addition to social and community features, users should have a safe space to communicate privately and have more deep conversations. This is why including a messaging feature is also a must if you aim to build a strong and powerful community like Wattpad’s.
Reading List or Library
One of the major features that reading apps like Wattpad revolves around is reading lists or book libraries. Upon constructing a reading community platform or app, you should expect many published stories by writers in all genres. Thus, there would be a need for a place that keeps them organized and allows users to seamlessly browse and explore all the published stores. This is where reading libraries come in handy, as they allow the display of all the stories in an organized view, either grid-style or list-style. This list should also have sorting and filtering features that make browsing easier and enhance the overall user experience. On the other hand, the book library feature is where the user would find all the stories he added or liked, be able to access them quickly and enjoy a good reading sesh.
E-book Reader
So, what should a reader do after filtering through all the stories, favoring one, and adding it to his own book library? Read them, duh? Well, this wouldn’t be possible without an e-book reader feature. The e-book reader feature would allow users to access the content inside a story and go through all the chapters. This feature can also include customization options like highlighting, adjusting brightness, altering font size, etc. The various customization options would be a great benefit, as they would enhance the user experience to a great extent.
Is it Possible to Develop an App Like Wattpad Using No-Code Development?
The process of building such an app using the traditional method can be quite expensive and requires extreme effort and time. Thus, you might want to explore some alternative methods. One of the best alternative methods you could find is no-code development. As it emerged as an effective and quick solution, no-code development is now many organizations’ go-to. No-code provides users and developers with convenience, ease of use, and affordable prices, which are somewhat difficult to get from traditional development. You can find many app-building development platforms like nandbox with hundreds of features such as push notifications, reading lists, social features, and many more that could create an exceptional app like Wattpad. So now that you have the best solutions, features, and tools, it is time to offer people a safe place like Wattpad to be creative and express themselves through their words while getting the recognition they deserve.
