From Concept to App Store Launch | Video Competition Platform
GeekyAnts built a video-based talent competition platform for a media and entertainment company and took it live on iOS and Android with 100% automated content moderation.
About the Client
A media and entertainment company is building digital platforms for the Indian audience. They operate in a space where creator engagement and community participation drive growth. As an emerging player in the digital entertainment space, they identified a gap in the market for a structured, rewards-driven competition platform.
About the project
Overview
The Indian digital entertainment market has seen growing demand for platforms that give everyday users and creators a space to compete and win. A media and entertainment company set out to build a mobile platform where users submit performance videos across categories like dance, singing, and mimicry, and earn rewards based on their ranking.
The platform needed to support multiple concurrent competitions, manage video uploads and streaming, and moderate all user-generated content without manual intervention. With no existing product or technical infrastructure, this required a defined competition lifecycle, a reliable content moderation strategy, and a media handling system built entirely from scratch.
100%
Automated Content Moderation
BUSINESS REQUIREMENT
The media and entertainment company needed a video competition platform built for the Indian market, covering a mobile application for iOS and Android, an admin panel, and a supporting backend infrastructure.
The goal was to give users the ability to upload and stream performance videos, compete across themed categories, and earn rewards, all within a well-defined competition lifecycle and without any manual content moderation.
Key Requirements
Build a cross-platform mobile application for iOS and Android
Develop a backend with support for multiple concurrent competitions
Enable video upload, compression, and streaming
Implement an automated content moderation system
Build an admin panel with real-time competition management and analytics
Launch the platform on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
CHALLENGES IN EXECUTION & SOLUTIONS
The app required content moderation capable of screening user-generated videos in Indian languages, a gap that existing tools could not address. We combined AWS Rekognition, Transcribe, and Bedrock to detect inappropriate content across both visual and audio formats. Video playback performance was addressed through BunnyCDN with adaptive bitrate streaming. The competition lifecycle, which had no defined structure, was simplified into five clear states. Cross-platform deep linking and third-party sign-in were configured to function across iOS and Android. The OTP verification flow was refactored to deliver a reliable onboarding experience.
AI Moderation for Indian Languages
Video Streaming Performance
Competition Lifestyle Complexity
Deep Linking and OAuth
OTP Verification Issues
OUR SOLUTION
We designed a competition platform with a defined competition lifecycle, automated content moderation, and a video management system capable of handling uploads, compression, and streaming. The platform was developed across three workstreams covering mobile, backend, and web, and delivered in phases leading up to the app store launch.
The team worked in six two-week sprints, with each phase building on the previous one. Work progressed from authentication and competition management to video submission, moderation, and engagement features, ending with the admin dashboard and the final launch on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
OUR APPROACH
We followed an Agile methodology with six two-week sprints, running mobile, backend, and web development in parallel. The project was divided into eight phases, starting with the core structure of the platform and progressing through competition management, video handling, content moderation, user engagement, and rewards, before closing with the admin dashboard and the final app store launch.
Step 1: Foundation and Authentication
Step 2: Completion Core and Video Submission
Step 3: AI Content Moderation
Step 4: Socials, Engagements, and Rewards
Step 5: Admin Dashboard and Analytics
Step 6: Production Readiness
- The first phase focused on building the structural base of the platform. This included defining the competition lifecycle, establishing the database, and setting up the authentication system to support user sign-in, OTP verification, and third-party login across iOS and Android.
- The second phase covered competition management and the video system that supported it. This included the rules and structure of each competition, the five lifecycle states that defined how contests progressed, and the backend logic that allowed multiple competitions to run at the same time. It also covered the process of uploading, compressing, and streaming user-submitted competition entries, ensuring consistent playback quality across devices.
- The third phase focused on building the content moderation system. We combined AWS Rekognition, Transcribe, and Bedrock to detect inappropriate content across visual and audio formats in Indian languages, eliminating the need for manual review entirely.
- The fourth phase focused on user interaction and competition outcomes. This included a home feed, an explore section for discovering active competitions, and the ability for users to like, vote, and comment on competition entries. It also covered leaderboards that ranked users by competition performance, a rewards system that distributed prizes according to final standings, and a notification system that updated users on competition progress and results.
- The fifth phase focused on the administrative layer of the platform. This included a dashboard that allowed the team to manage competitions in real time, track participation and engagement, and access analytics on competition performance.
- The sixth phase focused on stabilizing the platform before the app store submission. This included testing across iOS and Android, configuring monitoring tools to track errors and performance post-launch, and completing the submission process for both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
RESULTS
The app launched on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store with a defined competition lifecycle, automated content moderation, and a video management system built to handle uploads, compression, and streaming at volume. This gave the client full control over competition management through a real-time admin dashboard. The collaboration with client continues, with future modules and a marketing analytics integration in the roadmap.
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