Instagram Clone Engineering with React Native & Laravel (Full App) | Part 1 - backend
In this video, we engineer a full Instagram clone using React Native Expo and Laravel.
This is NOT a UI-only clone.
We focus on real engineering decisions, backend architecture, algorithms, and scalable system design.
📂 Source Code
React Native (Expo):
https://github.com/Muswamba/react-nat...
Laravel Backend:
https://github.com/Muswamba/laravel-d...
⏱️ Timestamps
00:05:22 Intro & final app overview
00:05:37 Project kickoff: cloning the starter repo & setting up Laravel Docker + React Native Expo
00:34:28 Tech stack overview & architecture decisions
00:34:50 Instagram-style backend architecture & feed algorithm data handling
03:57:42 Deep dive: Laravel Instagram architecture (controllers & core business logic)
04:42:58 Media pipeline: integrating music & FFmpeg processing
05:39:45 Feed controller query algorithms & AI tag suggestion handling
07:18:24 Integrating AI into Instagram features: posts, reels scoring, background jobs, data processing & user preferences
10:10:30 API testing & frontend integration (React Native requests & connections)
10:20:45 Frontend architecture: TypeScript models, interfaces & app structure
10:59:25 Advanced media processing: CRUD backend, FFmpeg video compression, music mixing & image optimization
🚀 Features Implemented
• Authentication & user profiles
• Feed system
• Stories
• Reels / short videos
• Post creation (images & video)
• Likes, comments & follows
• REST API backend with Laravel
• Mobile app built with React Native Expo
🛠️ Tech Stack
• React Native
• Expo
• Laravel
• REST API
• Authentication
• Media uploads & processing
• Mobile-first architecture
🎯 This Video Is For
• React Native developers
• Mobile engineers
• Full-stack developers
• Engineers building real-world apps
• Anyone curious how Instagram-like systems are engineered
This is an engineering walkthrough, not a pixel-perfect UI clone.
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• Performance & scaling
• Deployment