The app requires you to share photos of what you’re doing at a specific moment, creating a drab portrait of reality
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a new app to know about. BeReal, touted as the “anti-Instagram”, is currently the No 1 free app on the App Store in the US. It promises, slightly unnervingly, “a new and unique way to discover who your friends really are in their daily life”.
It works by sending an amber-alert-style push notification to all its users at once – one that includes two panic-inducing yellow warning sign emojis and a message that it is “time to BeReal”. Upon receiving this missive, everyone uploads a photo of what they are doing at that exact moment in time, regardless of whether they happen to be dancing in a club with their friends or sitting alone on their sofa and staring at the wall.
