How it works
The app notifies a user to immediately capture a short video (called ‘Behind the Scenes – BTS’) and a selfie photo (a ‘BeReal’) at a random time every day. A user can decide whether to share their BTS video or just the BeReal photo. They can add some music and text (including mentioning friends). They cannot edit or add special effects to their BTS or BeReal but they can take another one if preferred, before deciding which audience to share it with or on another social media or messaging app. The app notifies a user’s friends if they post late.
People can comment on a user’s BTS or BeReal or react to it with an emoji (a small picture that describes an emotion). A user can also create their own emoji using a photograph (called a ‘RealMoji’). There is no moderation of the pictures or comments.
A person must post on time for five consecutive days to start a BeReal streak, marked by a flame icon and a day count next to their profile picture. They must then post daily to increase their score (miss a day, and the streak resets to zero).
Parental controls or safety settings available
There are no parental controls and few safety settings. When using the app, people can choose whether to share the location of their BTS or BeReal post. For under 16 accounts created after August 2025, the child must provide a parent or guardian email address to get approval to use the app and these child accounts cannot share exact location. Users can hide posts from another user, block them and report a BTS, or BeReal profile or group chat. They can prevent other people from finding them using their phone number but people can still find them with their username or through mutual friends. Users can also prevent their data being used for personalised advertising.
