A Korean App Where You Film Two Seconds Every Hour Just Topped Japan's App Store

When the notification comes, film two seconds

setlog asks you to film a clip of about two seconds with the front or back camera each time a notification comes in. By default that happens once an hour, and you can change the interval.

Friend groups are called log rooms. Everything posted to a group between 4 a.m. and 4 a.m. the next day is joined automatically into one vlog of that day. If you miss an hour, that slot just stays black, with no penalty.

There are no filters or editing tools, and you cannot upload photos or videos from your camera roll. What you can do is add a short caption, react to friends' clips and leave comments.

One outlet is already calling it the app after BeReal

On September 22, the Japanese tech site ITmedia Mobile ran a story saying Gen Z has started turning from BeReal to setlog. On Apple's Japanese App Store free chart that same day, setlog sat at the top.

A survey by Parente cited in the article found that 91.4% of student users in their teens and twenties said they knew setlog.

The maker is New Chat, a Korean company. The iOS version came out in December 2025 and the Android version in April 2026. It was Korean-only at first, and Japanese support arrived around the Android launch; the article says Japanese users grew fast from around May.

No two-minute countdown

The article gives three reasons for the app's popularity. The first is its closed design: there are no follows or followers, and everything stays inside groups. Keep separate groups for school friends and family, and you can post in a way that fits each one.

BeReal gives you two minutes after its notification. setlog lets you pick a convenient moment within the time slot, so it feels less like being chased. Used alone without a group, it has no posting limit, so it also works as a private video diary.

Before you start

To join a group you need a six-digit code or an invite link from the person who invited you. A group holds up to 20 people, and without the code or link, outsiders are very unlikely to see what is inside. The App Store age rating is 12+.

If you are curious how you text your friends, try DoYouBox's My Texting Style Test. Eight questions tell you whether you reply instantly or go quiet. For the fun of doing the same thing together once a day, there is DoYou Daily Course: everyone runs the same course that day, so you can compare scores with friends right away.