Clubhouse is no longer an invite-only system for people to join it as the audio chat forum has opened its virtual rooms for joiners. In a blog post, the company announced that anyone could join the platform via Apple-backed or Google-backed Android-based smartphones. Earlier, users could join Clubhouse via an invite from an existing user.
“We’re thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin its next chapter,” said Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, founders of the app, in the blog post.
Things to love about Clubhouse:
✅ Wonderful people
✅ Fascinating conversations
✅ Backchannel
❌ > ✅ Easy to join
After 16 never-boring months of building, we’re thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/vC1g2KfhyQ
— Clubhouse (@Clubhouse) July 21, 2021
The live audio chat forum has grown hugely during the initial phase of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, it is now facing fierce competition from other social media platforms. Tech giants like Facebook have also ventured into the live audio sector. In December 2020, Twitter launched Spaces while Facebook hosts live audio rooms.
All these social media platforms, including Clubhouse, have to also compete with Discord, a VoIP instant messaging platform that has been offering live audio since 2015. The video game players-centric app has more than 140 million users.
Talking about the competition in the blog, Clubhouse said that the previous invite-only option to join the app was aimed at its ability to grow in a “measured way” and keeping things from “breaking” while it expanded its user base. The app was earlier available only for iOS. It was launched on Android in mid-May this year after which the app has added 10 million users to the community.
