Locket and BeReal both rose up as antidotes to polished, exhausting social media — but they answer different needs. Locket puts your closest friends' photos on your home screen. BeReal makes everyone post one unfiltered moment a day at the same time. Here's which fits how you actually want to stay in touch.
The short answer
Pick Locket for a tiny circle — best friends, a partner, family — where you want their photos glanceable on your home screen all day. Pick BeReal for a wider friend group and the shared ritual of a daily, spontaneous, un-posed post.
| Feature | Locket | BeReal |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Home-screen widget photos | Once-a-day dual-camera post |
| Best circle size | Very small | Medium friend group |
| Ritual | Anytime | Same random time daily |
| Vibe | Intimate | Playful, communal |
| Price | Free + Gold | Free |
Locket: friends on your home screen
Locket's magic is the widget. A friend snaps a photo and it appears on your lock or home screen instantly — no feed, no likes, no scrolling. It's wonderfully intimate for a handful of people you're closest to. Beyond a few friends, the constant widget updates can get noisy, so it's built for depth, not breadth.
BeReal: one honest moment a day
BeReal notifies everyone at a random time to post within two minutes, capturing front and back cameras. The point is anti-performance: you show what you're actually doing, boring or not. It's a fun group ritual, though the novelty can fade and the single daily window is easy to miss.
From staying close to growing together
If you love the small-circle, daily-photo intimacy of these apps but want it to mean more than "here's my lunch," that's exactly where Groop lives. It's a tiny group and a daily check-in — but built around the habits you're each trying to keep. You stay close and hold each other accountable, in one small ritual.