It was just a few days ago that Clubhouse, the audio-first social network, announced it was testing an Android version of its rapidly-growing app with a small number of users in a closed beta. It turns out we didn’t have to wait long for a wider rollout: a beta version of the app is now rolling out widely right in the Google Play Store, although it’s currently limited to users in the US.
To be clear, you’ll still need an invite to participate in conversations, but you weren’t able to use it at all without an iOS device previously. If you haven’t been invited yet, you can also use the app to reserve your username in the meantime.
The timing perhaps shouldn’t be so surprising: a litany of competing options have shown up in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, not to mention smaller lookalikes. If the app wants to maintain its status as the leader in this emerging social media format, it had to expand to Android users as soon as possible.
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Clubhouse says the rollout will be gradual, starting “with the U.S. today, followed by other English-speaking countries and then the rest of the world.”
As the app is still in beta, the company plans to collect feedback and fix issues as it expands more widely; it notes that it’s maintaining the waitlist and invite system as it works to scale its backend to support the large influx of users. The company is also planning to expand language support and add accessibility features over the summer as well.
People in the US can download Clubhouse here, while those in other regions can sign up to be alerted about availability at the same link.
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