TikTok Rolls Out a BeReal Clone Because it Must

BeReal is still the most downloaded app in the US App Store, beating not just Instagram but now also video king TikTok.

BeReal lost its top spot this week to widgets, which will likely continue to dominate for a few days, but is still ahead of both of its rivals.

TikTok isn't sitting by idly. This week TikTok released a new feature called TikTok Now, a direct copy of BeReal.

Why is TikTok spending resources on such a small feature? After all, it's already the leader in a category it created.

Easy answer: Downloads!

When you put BeReal and TikTok's downloads in the US side-by-side the sheer scale of BeReal becomes very obvious. And the alarming bit, for TikTok, is that the two trends are getting very very close.

According to our estimates, last week BeReal added a smidge over a million new users from the App Store and Google Play in the US. TikTok added 1.4 million users in the same week. More, yes, but not by that much...

BeReal is stronger on the App Store than on Google Play, and TikTok is strong on both, which is why there's still a gap. But if we zoom in on the App Store, downloads are even closer.

For TikTok to roll out a whole new feature, from scratch, in the span of just a month, is crazy. This means they see BeReal as more than just another threat.

If you've been reading for a while you may remember what I said about BeReal back when it just started taking off. If it can get enough traction it'll become a real threat to existing platforms. Well, it did, and now it is.

But it still doesn't have a real business model...

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