Whether you recently installed BeReal and aren’t sure what to do next, or you just want to know what it’s all about, you’re in the right place. Here’s the download on this buzzy social media app.

At its heart, BeReal is about sharing authentic photos with friends. Users get a prompt to post a single pic at a random time each day. The result is a forum for unedited, spontaneous snapshots of real life.

Getting started is simple. You’ll enter your name, birthday, and phone number. Be sure to share your real phone number, so you can verify your account and receive notifications for when to post.

Once your number is verified, you’ll pick a unique username and have the option to see which of your phone contacts are already on BeReal. If you prefer to skip this step, you can always add friends by username later.

Tip: Your name and username are visible on your profile, but your birthday isn’t. You can change your name and username, but not your birthday.

Every day, you’ll get a notification when it’s time to post. If you don’t receive an alert, go to your phone’s notification settings and make sure you’ve allowed BeReal notifications.

When you get the notification, act fast! You have two minutes to snap a two-way photo. No fancy camerawork needed: Whatever you photograph – your surroundings, your friends, or yourself – will be the main image. And whatever’s simultaneously captured through your phone’s front-facing camera will appear in the top left corner of your post.

The idea here is to keep it real – show your friends a true slice of your day without filters or edits. That said, you can retake your pic as many times as you wish within those two minutes.

Tip: If time runs out or you miss the notification, you don’t need to wait until the next day to share. You can post late, and your pic will have a timestamp showing how long after the prompt you took it.

When you’re ready to share your post, you can send it to just your BeReal friends or post it publicly. If you select “Everyone,” your post will appear in the “Discovery” feed, visible to anyone on BeReal. At this point, you’ll also decide whether you want your post to show its location (city and country).

Once shared, your post will be viewable until your next BeReal alert. Only you can view and download your older posts (aka “Memories”) by tapping the username icon in the screen’s top right corner.

Tip: You can delete posts, but only once per day. Remember that even if you remove a post, it’s possible that someone took a screenshot of it.

While you won't be instantly alerted if someone screenshots one of your photos, you can tell if somebody took one: Look for a camera shutter icon at the top right corner of your post. Tap to see who it was that just couldn’t get enough of your pic.

Tip: Sharing is another way your posts may live on. You can share them to other social media platforms while or after posting, and if you post to Discovery, others can also share your post to other platforms.

Add a caption to bring extra context to your pics. You’ll have the option to write one right after you upload your post. You can also add a caption at any time until the next prompt by viewing your post on the “My Friends” screen. To delete or edit a caption, just tap on the text.

Tip: Captions disappear once your post becomes a Memory.

Posting is just half of the fun – the true magic of BeReal is seeing what your friends and people around the world are up to.

Go to “My Friends” to see your crew’s posts, or check out pics shared with all of BeReal in the Discovery feed.

Like what you see? Show some love by commenting on a post or tapping the smiley to share a reaction. Giving a thumbs up, heart eyes, or look of surprise is a little more involved on BeReal than on most platforms. When you choose a reaction, you’ll be prompted to create a “RealMoji” – a photo of you emulating the emoji you chose.

Once you make a RealMoji, you can use it to react to someone’s post, and anyone who views that post will also see your reaction. Regretting a reaction? You can remove it from a post by tapping it. To edit a saved RealMoji, just touch and hold, then take a fresh pic.

Tip: If your saved RealMojis don’t capture what you want to express, use the lightning bolt option to create a one-time reaction.

Now that you know the basics of this photo-sharing phenomenon, the fun begins: Clean your phone lenses, turn on your notifications, and get ready to keep it real.