TikTok has announced a new feature that’s a blatant clone of the viral BeReal photo-sharing app. Branded as “TikTok Now,” the company says that this feature “brings the authenticity of TikTok to a whole new creative experience that connects you with those closest to you.”
For those unfamiliar, BeReal is one of the newest social apps out there. It sends every user a push notification at the same time and snaps two pictures: one using the rear-facing camera and one using the selfie camera. There’s a two-minute countdown timer and if you post outside that window, your BeReal post will say that you posted “late.”
The new TikTok Now feature… works almost exactly the same way. Once a day, you’ll receive a “Time to Now” notification that prompts you to “capture a 10-second video or a static photo to easily share what you’re up to.” If you post within three minutes of the notification being sent, your post will say that you were “on time.” Otherwise, it will say that you posted late.
TikTok is going all-in on this new TikTok Now feature. In the bottom tab bar of the app, you’ll see a new “Now” option that combines regular TikTok posts from your friends as well as “Now” posts from your friends. In some countries, TikTok says that “TikTok Now may be available” as a standalone app.
We’re experimenting with TikTok Now over the coming weeks. In the US, TikTok Now can be accessed from the TikTok app. In other regions, TikTok Now may be available as a new TikTok Now app, too. We’ll continue to enhance the user experience as we learn more about how the TikTok community embraces this new creative format.
TikTok has also implemented some privacy-focused limitations for this feature:
- If someone under the age of 16 creates an account to use the TikTok Now app, just like TikTok, their account will be private by default.
- Those under the age of 18 will not be able to share their content on the Explore feed.
- People aged between 13 and 15 will have commenting options limited to Friends only to help protect against unwanted interactions.
- Those 18 and over can opt-in to making their TikTok now posts viewable to anyone.
Ultimately, this is a pretty shameless and blatant rip-off of BeReal, which you can download on the App Store. And of course, we’ve already seen Instagram also try to rip off BeReal.
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