Clubhouse is now open to everyone, because invites are so last year

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By Michael Allison
published

Clubhouse Voice Chat Social Network
Clubhouse Voice Chat Social Network (Image credit: TechCrunch)
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Update, May 13 (11:30 pm ET) Clubhouse today announced an expansion to Canada and other English speaking countries

Update, May 18 (02:30 pm ET) Clubhouse today confirmed that it would expand worldwide by the end of the week

Update, May 21 (02:00 pm ET) Clubhouse is now available worldwide on Android phones.

Update, July 21 (01:45 pm ET): Clubhouse is no longer invite-only.

What you need to know

  • Clubhouse is now available in beta on Android.
  • It's only available in the U.S. at the moment, with a UK release in the coming days.
  • The invite-only system will remain for the near future.

After an earlier private beta teased last week, Clubhouse today announced that it would be making its debut on Android after an earlier announcement this year. The app had taken off in the heyday of the pandemic and spawned many imitators but had neglected the Android market for a while. There are a few caveats. This is still a beta, it's still invite-only, and you'll need to be in the U.S. to use it (though an expansion to other English-speaking markets has been promised.)

Writing over on the Clubhouse blog, the team said:

Our plan over the next few weeks is to collect feedback from the community, fix any issues we see, and work to add a few final features like payments and club creation before rolling it out more broadly. [...]As a part of the effort to keep the growth measured, we will be continuing the waitlist and invite system, ensuring that each new community member can bring along a few close friends.

There are still a couple of missing features in this initial release. Clubhouse highlights them over on a separate FAQ:

  • Topic following
  • Localization and in-app translations
  • Club creation or club management
  • Twitter account or Instagram account linking
  • Update name or update username in-app
  • Sidebar
  • Payments (currently U.S.-only for iOS)
  • You can report someone from their profile, but reporting via the recent speaker choice will be coming soon

You'll also be able to use Clubhouse only on Android 8.0 and above, though that shouldn't be an issue for any of the best Android phones.

Clubhouse appeared to be dragging its feet on the Android app, allowing competitors to swoop in. Twitter's Spaces, for example, is already available and more widely accessible to more users as of now than Clubhouse. Could this release help stop users from leaving? It's hard to say at this point. It's worth noting that Snapchat's revival of its Android app led to a growth in userbase even when competitors had copied its raison d'etre, so Clubhouse might be able to regain lost ground if it builds its app out quickly enough.

You can download Clubhouse from the Google Play Store here if you're in the U.S. Clubhouse says the app will debut in the UK and other English-speaking countries in "the coming days," and you can already pre-register if you're in the UK.

Update, May 13 (11:30 pm ET) — Now available outside the U.S.

Clubhouse confirmed via email to Android Central that the app would become available in Canada, the UK, and other English-speaking countries from 12 PM Eastern today via the Google Play Store.

Update, May 16 (02:30 pm ET) — Clubhouse goes worldwide this week

Clubhouse announced today an expanded rollout, highlighting countries like Japan, Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Russia. It aims to hit the rest of the world by Friday afternoon.

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Clubhouse continues to see strong activity, with the company confirming to Android Central that it sees 300,000 new rooms a day with between 5,000 to 15,000 rooms active at any minute and an average user visit time of one hour.

Update, May 21 (02:00 pm ET) — Clubhouse is now globally available on Android

Clubhouse is now available on Android across the world, the company announced today.

See more

You can download the app from the Google Play Store as long as you're running Android 8.0 (Oreo) and above.

Update, July 21 (01:45 pm ET) ― Clubhouse audio chats are open to everyone

Clubhouse announced in a blog post on Wednesday that the app is no longer invite-only, meaning anyone will be able to create or join audio group chats that have become so popular among many platforms.

The invite system has been an important part of our early history. By adding people in waves...we've been able to grow Clubhouse in a measured way.

The post highlights the team's growth (from under 10 employees to nearly 60) and the growth of the platform, which added 10 million users since launching on Android in May. The company also recently launched its own Backchannels DM system last week, which has apparently seen 90 million messages sent since the feature rolled out.

Of course, with many other platforms adopting audio-only chats, the Clubhouse team recognizes the challenges of competing with bigger networks. That said, the company aims to issue new updates every one or two weeks, which may help bring new features faster to keep its users engaged.

The latest release rolls out today for mobile devices.

Clubhouse Logo

Clubhouse

An interesting social media platform that relies on audio first and foremost, the app is finally available on Android after being limited to iPhone users for almost a year.

Michael Allison
Michael Allison