Hot question: can you take secret screenshots in the BeReal app?

This is a controversial question that does not have a clear answer. BeReal does not have any offical guidance as a company. BeReal fans have conflicting responses in online forums like Reddit. So, I decided to investigate.

It turns out that yes, you can see who took screenshots of your photo in the BeReal app. So be aware that other people - your crush, your friend, and your siblings - will see if you've creepily saved their ugly BeReal post. This article has all the answers about screenshots and privacy in the BeReal app in 2022.

Can I See Who Screenshot my BeReal Photo?

YES. Friends can see if someone has taken a screenshot of their BeReal and can see who did it.

I tested it out the BeReal app on iOS on June 20, 2022. I asked my little brother to take a screenshot of my most recent BeReal photo. He has an iPhone and snapped a screenshot of my picture in his BeReal feed. When he did, a small "1" appeared in box brackets next to the timestamp of my post.

When you screenshot someone's BeReal picture on your phone, they will see a small number with a box around it next to their image's timestamp when they open the app. If they tap on this number, they can reveal who screenshotted their photo. This icon indicates that someone took a screenshot of your Bereal photo.

BeReal users can also see the number of screenshots if they tap on their post and expand it. They will see the number of people who screenshot their post and the number of Realmoji reactions, then tap on the screenshot text to see who took the screenshot.

If you do not see the icon on your BeReal feed, that means no one has screenshot your post.

Only the original creator can see how many screenshots were taken, meaning that you will never be able to see who screenshot someone else's post.

Does BeReal Notify Someone if I Take a Screenshot?

If you take a screenshot of someone's BeReal post, they do not get a push notification, but they will be able to see the screenshot if they open the app. The screenshot icon will appear next to the post that you screenshot.

Can I See Who Took a Screenshot on BeReal?

Yes. To see who took a screenshot, go to your most recent BeReal photo in your feed. You will see a small number bracket - "[1]" - in a box next to the timestamp.

When you tap on this number, you will see a notice that "One of your friends took a screenshot!" but the identity of the screenshot person is blurred out. To reveal who screenshot your post, you'll need to share your BeReal post with someone else on a different social network. If you have Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram on your phone, you will have option to share it there or over email or text message.

So, I shared my BeReal collage via iMessage to my little brother. If you share on Instagram or Twitter, you can immediately delete the post or make it private. After I shared the post, the BeReal app showed me the BeReal name, username, and profile details.

You only need to share once to reveal everyone who has screenshot your photo. Later on in the day, I asked my friend Georgia to take a screenshot of my photo, and her name and profile details appeared too.

Can I See Who Screenshot My Photos from the Past?

No. You can see who took a screenshot of your most recent BeReal through the screenshot icon described above. However, it's not possible to see who screenshot your past BeReals. You can only see screenshot details for the last 24 hours.

BeReal does track your past photos in your Memories, which you can find under the profile icon in the upper right corner. You can download and share the photos you've taken in past days. But it's not possible to see who took screenshots of past BeReal photos.

Can I secretly screenshot?

In general, screenshots will make a screenshot icon appear on your friend's post in BeReal, and they will know that you've screenshotted it. I have found two workarounds that allow you to screenshot a BeReal post without your friend knowing.

• Screenrecording: If you start screen recording on your phone, you can scroll through the BeReal app to capture a photo. Then, use a video editor like Kapwing to grab a freeze frame of what you want to screenshot. Your friend will not get the screenshot icon when you use screen recording instead.
• Partial Screenshot: Because the BeReal feed is a continuous feed, you may be able to take a partial screenshot without your friend getting a notification. For example, I took a screenshot of my friend's post with less than 50% of the picture in frame. She could not see that I'd taken a screenshot. One trick that can help here is to switch the main photo with the front-facing image, then take a partial screenshot of the smaller image and zoom in after screenshotting.

Conclusion

BeReal is an awesome app, and I love that it encourages authentic expression.  Most of human life is boring, ugly, and unfiltered, which is exactly what I see in my BeReal feed.

However, I think it is pretty sketchy of BeReal to not tell people about screenshot notifications. It can be embarrassing to save someone's photo, on purpose or accidentally, and not realize that they will find out. There's no warning or confirmation process, so you might take a screenshot without realizing that someone else will know. The developers haven't written a blog post on this topic, don't mention this in their "Warnings" in the app store, and haven't answered open Reddit threads even though they clearly included this feature as a growth hack.

I hope that this article helps creators and consumers to stay informed about how BeReal tracks and reveals their behavior in the app. In my opinion, the best approach is transparency, so I wanted to share our experiment results so that you know what happens in the app.