Over the past few months, BeReal — a minimalist social media app that only lets users post a single photo each day at a random time — has taken the world by storm. Even now, it’s still one of the most downloaded social media apps on iPhone and Android.
But with success comes imitators. And TikTok, easily one of the most popular apps in the world, has come up with their own version of BeReal: TikTok Now.
TikTok Now works just like the app it’s imitating, for the most part.
At a random time each day (which changes by continent), every TikTok Now user receives a notification saying to post a photo. Once you open the app, you then have three minutes to take and post a photo of yourself.
And just like BeReal, the TikTok Now photos use both cameras on your phone. When you press the capture button, you’ll take a selfie and a rear camera picture at the same time.
You can’t see the pictures that other people are posting until you take one of your own. And if you take the photo more than three minutes after the notification hits, it’ll be labeled “late.”
The biggest difference between TikTok Now and BeReal is that TikTok Now lets you post both photos and videos. Tap the capture button once to take a photo, or hold it to record a video that’s up to ten seconds long.
You can access TikTok Now through the regular TikTok app. Just open it up and tap the lightning bolt icon at the bottom of the screen that’s labeled Now.
Note: Depending on the country you live in, you might also be able to download a standalone TikTok Now app from your phone’s app store. It isn’t available in the US, though.
Every day, TikTok will send out a notification to every user in the same continent telling them that it’s “Time to Now.” Once you get this notification, tap it or open the app to take your daily photo.
If you haven’t posted a photo yet, the app will block you from seeing anyone else’s posts. Tap the white Post to view button to take your photo.
A new screen will appear, with both your phone’s cameras turned on and a three minute timer at the top of the screen. Tap the capture button to take a picture, or tap and hold it to record a video. You can retake your photo or video as many times as you want during those three minutes.
Once you take your photo, you can choose who gets to see it: Friends (your mutual followers), or Everyone. If you’re under 18, you can only post pictures for Friends.
After you post, you can scroll down the Now page to see all the photos your friends have posted, and pictures that other users posted publicly. You can also like or comment on any post — unless you’re 13 to 15 years old, in which case you can only comment on Friends’ posts.