Beme () was a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

lication created by Matt Hackett and Casey Neistat, a

vlogger A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded i ...

and short film maker on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, and developed by Beme Inc. Beme was removed from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store on January 31, 2017.

Releases

The first version of Beme was launched on July 17, 2015 for iOS. On May 2, 2016, an Android version was released. On March 25, 2016, version 0.9.0 was publicly released to the iOS

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...

. The new version featured a new white and green UI as well as support for iPad and iPod touch that do not have a proximity sensor. Version 0.9.0 was the first major release featuring a brand new UI since the first public version. It also was the first version that allowed for a record time of up to 8 seconds and allowed you to stop any time while recording a beme and have it uploaded regardless of record time as long as it was between 2–8 seconds. On May 2, 2016, version 1.0.0 was released for Android on the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

Store. The new version featured Beme stats in the profile, a new discovery screen to find people near and far, and allowed users to tap on Bemes to react and watch in full screen. Version 1.0.3 was released on May 3, 2016, and fixed major issues with the

proximity sensor A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. A proximity sensor often emits an electromagnetic field or a beam of electromagnetic radiation (infrared, for instance), and looks for ...

on the Android version. On November 28, 2016, version 1.1.0 (version 1.0.26 for Android) was the last release of Beme before being discontinued and removed from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store on January 31, 2017.

Version history

Features

Designed as an alternative to highly edited content found in social media, the app enables users to produce unedited 2-to-8-second videos, which are immediately uploaded and shared with the user's subscribers, without the ability to preview the video. Users respond to shared content by sending "reactions", photographs of themselves, back to the video uploader. To begin recording, users cover their phone's proximity sensor, and the video lasts until the proximity sensor is uncovered or the time limit is reached. After the app stops recording, the video is automatically shared. In November 2016, Neistat announced another creation in association with Beme, called

Exit Poll An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for ...

. The app followed the simple premise of asking users to share who they were voting for. The user was then asked to record a video response on why they were voting for that particular candidate. These were then collated together and shared via

Facebook live Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of t ...

during the election.

Press

Shortly after the launch,

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ke ...

described Beme's minimalist design as "deceptively simple and decidedly weird".

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

explained that Beme's user experience is "as if the phone becomes a stand-in for one's body, the camera facing outward to capture what the user is experiencing." Within eight days of the app's release, Beme users had shared 1.1 million videos and logged 2.4 million reactions.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Internet properties established in 2015 Internet properties disestablished in 2017 2015 establishments in the United States IOS software