Clubhouse finally has an Android app that you can download from the Play Store – assuming you live in the US
The voice-based social network released its beta Android app on the Play Store for users in the US on Sunday, stating that the new app will gradually be available in other English-speaking countries and then the rest of the world.
The social network, whose most recent fundraiser was valued at around $ 4 billion, was launched as an iPhone-only app last year. The app quickly gained popularity over the past year, attracting several high-profile celebrities, politicians, investors, and entrepreneurs.
Clubhouse started developing the Android app earlier this year and began testing the beta version externally this month. In a town hall on the previous Sunday, the startup said that availability on Android was the most requested product feature.
“Our plan for the next few weeks is to gather feedback from the community, fix issues, and add some final features like payments and charter before they roll out more broadly,” the team wrote.
Mobile Insight company AppMagic estimates that the clubhouse has download numbers in some of its popular markets. (Although the exact download numbers of Clubhouse vary from other Mobile Insight companies, everyone agrees that the Clubhouse app has fallen in popularity in recent months.)
With Clubhouse struggling to sustain its growth – data from mobile insight companies like AppMagic suggests Clubhouse installs have dropped dramatically in recent months – the Android app could prove critical to the startup’s reach to increase worldwide.
The clubhouse could potentially – on paper – also accelerate its growth by allowing any user to join the service without an invitation. However, the startup said maintaining the waiting list and invitation system is part of its effort to “keep growth measured”. (The clubhouse has faced several moderation issues over the past few months.)
Clubhouse’s launch on Android comes at a time when numerous technology giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Spotify, Reddit and Microsoft LinkedIn have either launched similar offers – or announced plans to do so.
Clubhouse’s Twitter clone called Spaces has emerged as one of the biggest competitors for the startup, which is supported by A16z and Tiger Global. For example, an unplanned Twitter Spaces, also available for Android and hosted early Sunday by a well-known Indian startup founder, drew hundreds of listeners within minutes.
“As we kick off the summer and keep expanding the backend, we plan to open up even further, add millions of people off the iOS waiting list, expand language support, and add more accessibility features so people around the world can experience the clubhouse in a way that feels local to them, ”wrote the clubhouse team.
The Clubhouse beta Android app is currently missing a number of features, such as: B. the ability to follow a topic, in-app translations, localization, the ability to create or manage a club, link Twitter and Instagram profiles, payments and the ability to change the profile name or username.
“With Android we believe that clubhouse feels more complete,” the blog post said.