BeReal is a new photo-sharing application without the glitz and glam. BeReal has been gaining attention, mainly among young adults as well as Gen Z. When compared to traditional social media, the app gives users an unfiltered look into each other’s lives. The working is fairly simple, every day, you post one, and only one, photo of what you are doing in real-time.
What Is BeReal?
BeReal is exactly what the name suggests – an app that allows users to be the authentic version of themselves, literally.
Yes, there are several benefits of social media, but sadly it is no secret that most of the images of people we see online, especially on Instagram and Snapchat, are heavily edited. I mean, they are still real people, however, with a little brighter skin, sharper jawline, fuller hair, whiter teeth, plumper lips, and all the modifications one can do.
BeReal, created by Alexis Barreyat, the motive of the app is to get people to stop curation and present themselves as they are at the moment. To be put bluntly, this application is Snapchat without filters and Instagram without edits.
You can share your images with your friends only, or you can make them a public account so that everyone can see them, depending on you. You can scroll through the application to see your friends doing their mundane daily routines and find alikeness.
How Does BeReal Work?
Every day, you will receive a notification by the application to take a picture within a limited timeframe of two minutes. The app will simultaneously take the picture from both the front as well as the back camera, to show you and your life. The prompts are random, so if you get a prompt at 5 pm today, you might receive one at 11 in the morning tomorrow, you never know.
What is the benefit of random timing you ask? Simple, as you will not prepare yourself and your environment for the pictures in advance as that will not be authentic.
You have the ability to re-take the pictures if you do not like the first one, however, the application will tell your friends about the number of times you re-took them. If you take more than two minutes, your friends will receive a notification since it may mean that you changed your surroundings or took some time to appear presentable.
The app will also allow you to react to your friend’s BeReals using RealMojis. However, you need to take a picture of yourself to capture your reaction, not enter a generic emoji.
Say, your friend posts a funny picture, click on the laughing-crying RealMoji to snap a picture of your face looking like you’re laughing. Similarly, if you liked a post; you can make a thumbs-up pose to react to that image.
The RealMoji will appear at the bottom of the post the same way it does on other apps. You will be able to see the reactions of other people alongside your RealMoji as well.
Remember that though you can use BeReal without posting anything, you will not be able to see any of your friend’s posts if you do not post anything yourself. This means there will be no more silently stalking your friends with zero posts of your own.
How to get Started with BeReal?
A few of the application’s features are difficult to understand, here’s a tutorial to explain how to begin using BeReal.
1. Create an Account
BeReal application is available for both Android as well as iOS users. To begin, download the application from your respective store. Enter the details of your phone number, full name, birthday, and username to create an account.
You will receive a confirmation code on the phone number you added, you have to enter the code to proceed.
2. Find Friends
After you log in, the app will prompt you to access your contacts to add friends from the contact list. If your friends do not use the app, you can just click on Don’t Allow to prevent the app from accessing contacts.
3. Take and Post a Picture
The application will ask you to take a picture after you create an account. It will then display a notification to take an image. Click on the notification, then proceed to take two pictures (from the back and front camera,) keep in mind to do it quickly as there is a time limit of 2 minutes.
You have the ability to add a caption and select if you want to only show it to your friends or everyone. Then, click on Send to post it. All the pictures you take will be visible in the Memories section, this can be accessed by clicking on the user icon in the top-right corner of the homepage.
Note – It may seem like it, however, this application does not work like Snapchat. So, there is no streak to lose and no score to improve. The only catch is that, if you do not post a picture a day, you will just not be able to look at the BeReals of your friends, which makes sense.
You will be able to see BeReals of others in the Discovery section of the application. To react to those, click on the emoji in the bottom left corner.
4. Not Satisfied? Delete Your BeReal
Are you not satisfied with the image you posted? You can just delete it. However, BeReal only grants the deletion of one picture a day. Click on the picture, then tap on Delete my BeReal. In the upcoming window, select why you wish to delete your BeReal, then hit Delete.
5. See the Location of Your Friends
Finally, the app has a Snapchat-like map, which allows you to see where your friends are. However, this feature is optional, unless you give the application permission to access your location, your friends will not be able to know your location.
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