Image Credit: Alex193a
Instagram continues to work on a few more BeReal features—‘Roll Call.’ The new feature would allows group chat members to request all participants to add a photo or video of themselves to the chat within 5 minutes.
The feature was first spotted by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. As can be seen in the screenshot, Roll Call is not too different from BeReal, with an enclosed group chat, as against sending the request to all your contacts.
The app researcher also posted another feature being tested by Instagram; ‘Glimpse’ Stories. Glimpse Stories according to Alessandro, works similarly to BeReal, in using the front and back cameras to show that you are up to at any point in time.
In August, Alessandro reported via his Twitter page that Meta was testing an Instagram feature similar to BeReal. The feature, which is being tested internally, is called “IG Candid”, and was discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi.
BeReal is a social media app that is attracting a lot of users; and it is little surprising that Meta is already cloning one of its features. The feature being cloned by Instagram mirrors a BeReal’s element that prompts you to share an authentic photo at a random time each day.
A screenshot posted by Paluzzi described how the feature could work. The short description on the screenshot reads: “Add other’s IG Candid to your story tray. And everyday at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes.”
In a statement confirming the feature to The Verge, a Meta spokesperson Christine Pai, said “This feature is an internal prototype, and not testing externally.”
The statement simply means we might not be seeing the feature any time soon, and offers no assurances that it will be widely launched.
BeReal is not the first social media app that has attracted interest from Meta; Snapchat and TikTok have had some of their popular features copied by the company in the past.
In August, Snapchat rolled out a dual camera option that allows you to create content using your front and back-facing cameras simultaneously. The dual-camera option is pretty mush similar to what exists in BeReal.
Users will have the choice of using several Dual output formats, including picture-in-picture, vertical, horizontal, and cut-out.
Snap is in need of some inspiration, and finding some motivation in one of BeReal’s features is not a bad place to start from.
