Instagram confirms it’s testing a new photography-focused feature called Candid Challenges, which shares similarities with the increasingly popular app BeReal.
App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi discovered Candid Challenges, a feature that encourages users to share a random selfie each day.
#Instagram is working on IG Candid Challenges, a feature inspired by @BeReal_App đ
âšī¸ Add other Candid IGs to your story tray. And every day at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a photo within 2 minutes. pic.twitter.com/caTCgUPtEV
â Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) August 22, 2022
Candid Challenges exclusively uses Instagram’s dual camera capability, which captures a photo with both the front and back lenses at the same time.
âšī¸ This is the camera for IG Candid, you can only activate the dual camera tool đ pic.twitter.com/wXisCG8p2U
â Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) August 22, 2022
The combination of random photos and dual camera mode is a concept around which the entire BeReal app is built.
The idea is for people to create an authentic snapshot of where they are and what they’re doing at a given moment, hence the name “Be Real”.
Launched in 2019, BeReal topped the Apple App Store in July 2019 and has been downloaded 28 million times.
BeReal has 21.6 million monthly active users and 2.93 million access the app daily.
Given BeReal’s rapid growth, it’s no wonder that more established apps are starting to mimic its features.
We don’t know how far into development Candid Challenges is or when it might launch, but Instagram confirms to Engadget that it’s being tested as an “internal prototype.”
This means that only people in the company can access it, unlike a live test with regular users.
It’s interesting to know that Instagram is developing new capabilities built around photo sharing after recently promising to get involved in video.
However, Instagram’s shift to video isn’t receiving a warm reception from users, with high-profile influencers calling for the app to return to its roots.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, confesses that the company has leaned “too far” into videos recently.
instagram: “we’ve leaned too much into video in the last two months” pic.twitter.com/OwvgbhCJf1
â Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) August 19, 2022
The heartfelt challenges could be Instagram’s way of trying to quell criticism of too much video while trying to stay relevant with younger generations.
Heralded as Gen Z’s favorite app, BeReal is building a user base by developing a way for people to share authentic content with friends.
Another point of contention with users is Instagram’s propensity to show content from accounts that users don’t follow. People want to see more content from their friends, family and favorite brands.
BeReal offers an experience that contrasts with Instagram.
Now, as it has done many times before, Instagram is cloning features from a new social media app that is catching the attention of today’s youth.
First came Stories, which were cloned from Snapchat. Then came Reels, which was cloned from TikTok. Soon we will have Candid Challenges, cloned from BeReal.
Sources: Business of Apps, Engadget, The Guardian
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