Instagram is working on a new feature that is said to be a copy of BeReal- an upcoming and rival social media app that wants users to share their unfiltered photos with their friends. Meta that has a history of cloning features from its rival companies has this time been accused of testing a feature called “Candid Challenges” which is the basic idea of BeReal app.
The feature was spotted by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi. According to the screenshot shared by him on Twitter, people participating in Instagram’s “IG Candid Challenges” will receive a message to take a picture of their surroundings every day at a different time. They will have a two-minute window to take a photo after receiving the alert during which the Instagram camera will open both its front and rear camera. These pictures clicked will appear in the Stories tray. An Instagram spokesperson has confirmed to Engadget that this feature is an “internal prototype” without giving out any other details on the update.
BeReal which happens to be the newest competitor of Instagram gained popularity this year after hitting 11 million downloads in May. One of the popular apps amongst the GenZ, it takes a dig at Instagram by calling itself the first “uncontrollable social media to share authentic moments in Photo”. Unlike Instagram that comes with loaded with face filters, this app encourages users to post real photos sans filters. A Twitter post shared by the company reads “maybe what we all just wanted was an app to see photos of your friends”.
The BeReal app was released in the year 2020 but gained momentum only in the mid of this year. This app is available on both iOS and Android platforms and has more than 10 lakh downloads on Play Store at the time of writing this article. Developed by Alexis Barreyat, a former GoPro employee, the BeReal app has seen an increase of 315% in its download since January. According to a Crunchbase report, the company recently raised a USD30 million funding led by Andreesen Horowitz- an American venture capital firm.