Locket, the photo-sharing app that allows users to share images with friends that are then displayed on their home screens as widgets, wants to stay on your radar, and itâs enlisting the help of celebrities.
Locket emerged as a competitor to BeReal when it launched in 2022, offering a more authentic way to connect with others. The app places a widget on iPhone home screens that updates with the latest pictures added by friends. Users can select up to 20 close friends, creating an intimate space to share unfiltered selfies and updates on their lives.
The app claims to have over 80 million total downloads, more than 9 million daily active users, and its users have shared more than 10 billion photos to date. Notably, the company also shared with TechCrunch that it achieved profitability in 2024, a significant accomplishment given its relatively modest fundraising efforts of just $12.5 million.
To drive additional growth, Locket has been quietly testing a feature called âCelebrity Locketsâ for the past six months, which the app officially announced on Wednesday.Â
Image Credits:Locket
Celebrity Lockets mostly focuses on music artists, letting them engage with fans by sharing details about upcoming shows, new album releases, and other news. Locket has already tested this feature with Sukie Waterhouse and JVKE, with more artists to be announced soon.
To use the feature, celebrities can share a link on their social media platforms, or fans can look them up in the app to add them, and they can then send photos directly to their fansâ home screens.
âWith posts going straight to fansâ home screens, it offers the kind of immediacy and intimacy that other platforms canât replicate, turning passive followers into active participants,â founder Matt Moss told TechCrunch.Â
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Locket allows artists to choose a number of fans to connect with, ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 slots. For instance, Suki has 5,000 fans on the app and has helped Locket attract hundreds of new members. According to the company, 17% of these 5,000 fans were new to Locket.
âFans feel special knowing theyâre one of just a few thousand rather than just another follower. This also preserves the same intimacy and brand of Locket as a product today ⌠We knew our community used Locket to share music with their friends, so being able to also connect with their favorite artists is a natural evolution for the platform,â Moss said.
Although Moss says the feedback from testers has been good, itâs unclear whether this will help Locket grow its user numbers. BeReal tried something similar with a feature called âRealPeople,â but the reception wasnât entirely positive, with some people saying that they preferred the anti-social media app as a way to escape from celebrities.
