Instagram ‘Candid Challenges’ feature: All you need to know

Among the new features coming to popular social media app Instagram is something called ‘Candid Challenges’. The feature, which feels like an implementation of the BeReal app seems to be under development and may hit the app later this year.
Currently unreleased, the Candid Challenges feature was first spotted developer Alessandro Paluzzi, who is known for reverse engineering app code and spotting upcoming features ahead of launch. As per reports, an Instagram spokesperson has also confirmed that the feature is an ‘internal prototype’ but no more details have been revealed.
What is Candid Challenges?
Candid Challenges takes a different (but not exactly new) approach to sharing your day-to-day life on social media. Rather than selectively picking out their best photos and videos to share on platforms like Instagram or Twitter, the feature will send users a notification during a random time of the day at which point users must share a photo from their front and rear camera at the same time, bringing out the challenge aspect of the feature.

These photos will then be shared on the users’ stories. Numerous reports have pointed out the similarity of the unreleased feature to 2019 selfie app BeReal, which took a similar approach to photo sharing.
It currently is not clear when and if Instagram will be launching the feature. However, if parent company Meta decides that BeReal is a competitor to Instagram, we could see the implementation roll out later on.
In a similar fashion, Instagram has brought the stories feature to rival Snapchat and Reels to rival TikTok in the last few years. BeReal currently shows over a million downloads on Android and as per a report Engadget, sits on the top position on the Apple App Store among free apps.