A new social video calling app Without camera has a radical idea to make social media more authentic: turn off the camera so you can’t see what you look like while filming. The idea is to make capturing a moment feel natural while also reducing the friction that comes with previewing your own image, which can often make users hesitate to post or rush to add edits and filters to touch up your appearance.
Without camera believes that this concept better reflects the way people interact in real life, where don’t face a mirror that shows us what we look like, that is.
“You know what you’re pointing to, why do you need to see this preview?” asks Nocam co-founder and CEO Justin Spraggins. “The minute you look at what you’re about to capture, you get nervous,” he says. “Now you’re framing it, it doesn’t look like it really is. Now you are acting in any way to create content.
Image Credits: Without camera
The idea for Nocam evolved from the startup’s previous efforts (Snack Break) with mobile social media.
Originally, the team released a short form video app called Popcorn, whose goal was to make work communications more fun by allowing users to record short messages, or “pops,” that could be shared instead of longer emails, texts, or Slacks. But in addition to facing strong competition from larger rivals like Loomthe team realized that they were not well equipped to target the enterprise market.
Spraggins’ background is in the consumer world, having previously worked in apps. see see and do not mute; most recently, he co-founded 9 beadsWink creators and others.
“We failed fast and said, this just doesn’t feel like us,” Spraggins explains of the pivot away from Popcorn.
Because the team was kept small, they were able to use their existing fundraising to experiment with other app concepts. Last fall, for example, they were testing Look, a Locket-like photo widget app that had also removed the camera. But after initial testing and a small-scale rollout that reached only around 10,000 active users, the team shifted its focus to video.
Image Credits: Without camera
To use Nocam, users first authenticate with their phone number and allow the app to access their address book to find friends, similar to other social apps. You will then receive your first prompt to record a video. The whole concept in Nocam is about being prompted to record, but initially, the prompts will be system driven. As you add more friends, you can also get directions from them.
So, for example, Nocam can suggest you to do a certain dance as a challenge, spin in a circle, or just post what you’re doing right now. The prompts will include a random audio clip, and when you start recording, the camera will be blurry. Clips are up to eight seconds long for fast filming. Users can also add a caption and then hit publish to share it with their network; it is not a direct message to the friend who shared it with you.
After posting the video, you can see which friend asked you to record or if it was a system-generated prompt. Friends can comment on videos that are posted and users can export their recordings to post on other social networks if they wish.
Image Credits: Without camera
Like BeReal, Nocam will send challenges at least once a day, but you can also receive challenges from friends at any time. But while the app lets you flip the camera, it doesn’t record from both cameras at once, like BeReal does.
Still, the app looks very similar to BeReal, and even offers a calendar of your Nocam memories to look back on.
“We think it’s a lot like BeReal and TikTok,” Spraggins says, noting how it combines the system trigger found in BeReal with TikTok’s challenges, but in a more friend-focused app. While that may seem a bit derivative, it’s worth noting that BeReal has been running out of steam — Recent data from Sensor Tower indicates that BeReal’s monthly downloads have decreased. Additionally, daily usage is down 61% from its peak, to 6 million users in March from 15 million in October, according to Apptopia data.
That may indicate that simply posting random photos from daily life is reaching its expiration point. Nocam’s differentiator to focus on video challenges could appeal to a similar demographic to BeReal while giving them something to really do.
Image Credits: Without camera
The app has been promoting a lot in Tik Tok and instagram, where he aims to appeal to a younger demographic. Though originally introduced to Gen Z college students, the goofy nature of its challenges seems to have appealed to a slightly younger set of high school students, where users may have a desire to connect with friends, but often don’t. they are with them in the real world. since they are in college.
Due to its 13+ rating, the app offers the ability for users to report others if they make inappropriate challenges or post content that violates the terms. If a user is reported for their challenge, they are prohibited from making their own challenges in the app. Also, your infringing content would be removed, and the user who reported you would never see that person’s content again (and vice versa, in a double ban).
The startup is a team of three co-founders, also including CTO Ben Hochberg, formerly a lead developer at 9 Count, and Gen Zer. Sarah Tran currently attends The Wharton School at UPenn. Previously, the company raised seed funding of $400,000 from General Catalyst and Dream Machine to test its different application concepts. After today’s official Nocam launch, he plans to generate a seed round.
Without camera it’s only for iOS for now and it’s a free download. The company currently does not have a revenue model, so there are no subscription fees or in-app purchases at this time.