What Happened to BeReal? The Real Story (and What Teens Want Next)

BeReal went from the number one app in the country to "wait, do people still use that?" in about a year. Here's what actually happened, with the facts checked, and what teens want from the next one.

If you were in middle school in 2022, you probably remember BeReal taking over. Then, for a lot of people, it just kind of went quiet. So what actually happened?

Short version: BeReal didn't disappear. It peaked hard, cooled off, got sold, and is now trying to grow again. Here's the full story, with the facts checked.

The BeReal timeline

1. 2020: Launch. BeReal was created in France by Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau. The idea was simple: once a day, at a random time, everyone gets a notification and has two minutes to post a photo from both the front and back camera.
2. 2022: The explosion. After staying fairly under the radar, BeReal blew up. In July 2022 it hit number one on Apple's free app chart and stayed there into September. Apple named it iPhone App of the Year for 2022.
3. 2022: The copycats. Big apps noticed. TikTok launched a BeReal-style feature called TikTok Now, then shut it down in 2023, less than a year later.
4. 2023: The cool-down. Daily users dropped a lot from the 2022 peak. Plenty of people kept their accounts but stopped posting every day.
5. June 2024: The sale. French mobile app and game company Voodoo bought BeReal for about 500 million euros. The founder stepped down as CEO.
6. 2025: The reboot. BeReal started rolling out ads in the US and said it had around 40 million monthly users worldwide. It also worked on updates including video, chat and a Nearby feed.

So is BeReal dead?

No. Based on what's publicly reported, BeReal is still operating, still updating, and still has a real user base. It's just not the thing everyone at school is talking about the way it was in 2022.

"Dead" usually means "my friends stopped using it." That's a real feeling, and it happens to almost every app that goes viral fast. It's not the same as the app shutting down.

Why did people drift away?

Nobody can point to one single reason, but these come up over and over when people talk about it:

• The novelty wore off. The first few weeks of a random daily prompt are exciting. Month six is "my desk again."
• Every day started looking the same. Class, car, couch. Real, but not always interesting.
• Nothing to work toward. You posted, you looked at friends' posts, and that was it.
• Other apps copied the idea. Once the dual-camera, post-the-moment idea showed up elsewhere, BeReal felt less unique.
• Friend groups moved together. When a few people stop, the rest follow. Social apps live or die on who's still there.

Do people still use BeReal?

Yes. Some friend groups still post every day and love it. BeReal itself has said most of its users are Gen Z. If your friends are still on it, there's no reason to leave.

But a lot of teens want what BeReal started, plus something it never really had.

What teens actually want from the next app

BeReal proved one big thing: people are tired of fake. Over-edited photos, AI everything, accounts that aren't even real. The next app has to keep that, then fix what made BeReal fade.

• Real, guaranteed. Not "please don't filter," but no way to upload, filter or post AI content at all.
• A reason to come back. Rankings, streaks, challenges. Something to win.
• Your people, not the whole internet. Your friends and your school, not strangers.
• Safer by design. No random adults in your feed or your DMs, and no broadcasting your school or location to the world.
• Posts that don't haunt you. Stuff that leaves the feed instead of following you forever.

Looking for options right now? We broke them down here: apps like BeReal in 2026.

Where Portal comes in

Portal is a new camera-only social app for iPhone, built in Texas, that just launched. It takes the "real moment" idea and builds a game around it.

• Camera-only, always. Everything is filmed live inside the app. No upload button, no camera roll, no filters, no AI content.
• 48-hour posts. Posts leave the feed after 48 hours and save to your memories.
• Leaderboards. Rank among friends, your school, your city, your state and nationally, based on likes, followers, views and comments.
• 1v1 challenges. Go head to head for most likes or views over 24 hours, 3 days or a week. Win trophies and build streaks.
• Students-only layer. Students verify their school, and only verified students can see student-only posts. It's designed so adults aren't in students' feeds, and adults can't DM students on Portal.
• City only. Posts show the city they were filmed in, never an address, and your school is never shown publicly on posts.

The full side-by-side is here: Portal vs BeReal. Parents wondering how it works can check our page for parents.

The takeaway

BeReal isn't dead. It changed the conversation about what social media should feel like, and it's still around. What faded for a lot of people was the daily habit.

If you liked BeReal's honesty but wanted more to do with it, Portal is worth a try. Same rule, everything is real, plus a leaderboard, streaks and the chance to rep your school. Grab a couple of friends and see who climbs first.

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