BEREAL — GettingApp

All Projects / BEREAL

BEREAL

50M+

Users worldwide

15M+

Daily active users

Industry

Social Media

Location

France / International

Scope

Social Network

Overview

Redesign and scaling of a messaging feature for a hyper-growth social network

Description

BeReal is a social network that rapidly conquered the younger generation with a simple concept: share one authentic, unfiltered photo per day. GettingApp was brought in to design, build and scale BeReal's in-app messaging feature — a strategic component at the heart of the product.

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Challenge

BeReal's explosive growth created a major challenge: evolving core product features in a very high-volume environment, where any new feature can instantly impact tens of millions of users. The messaging system needed to be rethought, built, and made reliable at scale.

What we delivered

messaging features

–Real-time conversations between users
–Push notifications
–Media sharing (photos and videos)
–Message reactions (emojis, quick interactions)
–Sharing BeReal posts directly in conversations
–Advanced message and conversation deletion management
–Messaging rollout to all users excluding official accounts

infrastructure

–Design and deployment of a dedicated messaging microservice
–Hybrid backend stack (Go and Node.js)
–Native mobile integration (Kotlin & Swift)
–Distributed database at scale

organisation

–Embedded within the messaging squad
–Close collaboration with product and infrastructure teams
–New backend processes and rituals
–Product-first culture before implementation

Results

✓Robust, fluid and interaction-rich messaging feature shipped
✓Complex edge cases handled (deletion, history, redirections)
✓Highly animated and polished UX interfaces
✓Improved product stability and reduced negative reviews linked to social features
✓Reduced technical debt on a critical scope

Key differentiators