⚡ Say hello to “TikTok Now” and show your realest moments!

Another day, another update! Digital platforms keep changing and adding new formats. Last month, we’ve been seeing growth on the latest TikTok addition which is a direct competitor against the rising app BeReal, developed and launched in France.

This new feature is called TikTok Now ⚡ and it was launched as "a daily photo and video experience." Let's say it's a way to create and share content in order to bring users even closer with friends and peers, adding even more entertainment to the whole TikTok experience.

It’s important to point out that this is only available as a standalone mobile app in global markets outside of the United States, primarily on iOS.

If you’re in the US, you can access directly from the main TikTok app.

Let’s BeReal for a second…

This is basically a copy of another app and both will work in very similar ways. What BeReal offers is a way to capture moments in the most realistic perspective and the same thing will be happening with TikTok Now.

This is a platform that invites you to take a photo with the front and back camera at a random time each day. This format brings you together with your friends, to show each other what you’re doing right then and there, at the same time.

How does TikTok Now work?

You will receive a daily notification to capture a video or photo and quickly share what you are doing at that moment. Also, you will only have a couple minutes available to snap or record. You must do this with both cameras, front and back, to show what's happening on each side of your phone. No filters, stickers or any other things to add. Just real & raw pictures about how's your day going.

This is how the posts will look like:

[Image Source: TikTok Newsroom]

“TikTok Now” as a function ⚡

If you’re a TikTok user inside the United States, you will have this as another feature. Just go to the bottom navigation bar and press “Now” right next to the publish button. You will notice a little lightning bolt icon that gets you into a Explore Feed of other users posting TikTok Nows.

You'll also get a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or still photo to easily share what you're doing. No filters or additions,

TikTok Now has some privacy features. For one thing, users must be 18 years old to share their TikTok Now posts to the Explore Feed. For users ages 13-15, only your friends - the people you follow and who follow you - will be able to comment on your posts. Even for users 18 and older, the default settings will allow only their friends to see their posts, though they can change their settings to share with the public.

“TikTok Now” as an app ⚡

The TikTok platform has said that they're experimenting with TikTok Now in the coming weeks. In regions outside of the United States, TikTok Now is available as an app that works separately.

This app works much like the TikTok Now experience that is currently built into the TikTok app in the US. This can sound a little uncomfortable, but it brings in an interesting benefit: as a separate mobile app that you have to download to use, it allows users to opt out of receiving push notifications for check-ins — which is handy if you prefer your TikTok app notifications muted but want to be alerted to new updates.

Keep in mind that BeReal warns its users through a push notification, telling them that "it's time to BeReal" with emoji alerts. TikTok Now's notification is similar, alerting users with something along the lines of:

⚡Time to Now⚡ Post today's Now in the next 3 minutes and see what your friends are up to.

In terms of privacy and usage, if someone under the age of 16 signs up for a separate TikTok Now app, their account will be private by default. Otherwise, the privacy features of TikTok Now are the same between the app and the feature.

Are Dual-camera features here to stay? 📸

TikTok Now and BeReal are not the only platforms with this concept. We’ve seen Instagram present “Instagram Dual” among their functionalities to record Reels. Also, Snapchat has a similar resemblance of this.

Is this going to be the future of posting formats, or is it going to be a forgotten trend? This is still being treated as a trial and not available in every country yet.

Let’s see how this evolves. We may be very close to meeting a new successful form of content creation.