TikTok, the popular social media platform, has announced the discontinuation of its TikTok Now feature, which closely resembled the app BeReal that gained popularity in 2022. Users recently received notifications stating that parent company ByteDance is “updating the TikTok experience and discontinuing TikTok Now,” as revealed in screenshots shared by several individuals, as reported by The Verge.
BeReal, named Apple’s iPhone app of the year in 2022, had captured significant attention but has experienced a decline in buzz lately. The app took a unique approach compared to its competitors by sending notifications at various times each day, encouraging users to quickly share photos taken simultaneously with their device’s front and rear cameras. The aim was to foster spontaneous content creation while focusing on interactions with friends.
TikTok Now adopted a similar concept, requiring users to capture front and rear photos simultaneously, but it expanded on BeReal’s functionality by allowing users to record 10-second TikTok-like videos instead of just photos. Upon its launch, TikTok stated its intention to create “authentic and spontaneous connections on TikTok.”
While the feature was integrated into the main TikTok app in the United States, it was also available as a standalone app called TikTok Now in other regions. The message sent to TikTok users in the US indicated that the feature would be removed from the main app, but there has been no information regarding the fate of the separate TikTok Now app.
Shortly after BeReal’s successful launch, it influenced the introduction of dual-camera features in other platforms such as Instagram (Candid Stories), Snapchat, and others. However, The New York Times reported in April that BeReal’s user base had declined. BeReal refuted the analytics report behind the article, claiming to still have 20 million daily active users.
With TikTok discontinuing its TikTok Now feature and the declining buzz around BeReal, it remains to be seen how users will respond to these changes and what other developments lie ahead for the social media landscape.
