But what’s with this Clubhouse app and how did it land in the spotlight all of a sudden? Well, Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk, has made it quite a habit to bring unknown stuff into the public eye and the story with the Clubhouse app is no different. The app grew popular overnight after Elon Musk interviewed Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev on stopping buying GameStop’s stocks. But amid all this, you might be wondering what the Clubhouse app on Android is all about, how to install and use it, and more. In this article, I’ll clear up any of your questions about the Clubhouse app. So without further ado, let’s get started!
What is the Clubhouse app?
Before we explore the Clubhouse app, let’s understand what you can do on the Clubhouse app. Clubhouse is a casual drop-in conversations app with friends and other people from different communities and interests around the world. You can chat anytime with the people you follow and send audios or just listen to others’ conversations. Unlike most other chatting platforms, Clubhouse is more audio-based conversations. You can host your own conversations or hop in the existing conversations in a community. Compare it with a TED talk! A host along with one or two more people get to speak to an audience in a chat room. They speak on topics of their interests and the audience can jump in or out of the conversation at their will. People can switch between conversations as lots of them might be happening at any given time. Famous personalities like Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk have made the most of the Clubhouse app and that being behind the reason for its popularity. And as per a CNBC article, Russian President Vladimir Putin is soon expected to make a guest appearance on the Clubhouse app. But does Clubhouse have anything to offer for the nerds and geeks? The answer is a big yes! Experts from different disciplines host conversations specific to a topic and the topic enthusiasts can listen to the industry experts. So if you want a good reason to use Clubhouse, here you go! Read on to know how to install and use the Clubhouse app on Android!
How to install the Clubhouse app on Android?
Initially, the app was rolled out only to the iPhone users. The app was first launched only in English-speaking countries and was slowly expanded to other countries. But the app is currently available on the Play Store in most countries. To install the Clubhouse app on Android, go to the Play Store and install the app with this logo. Also, you can download the app by clicking the button below.
How to get a Clubhouse invite on Android?
The Clubhouse app is exclusive and can be used on an invite-only basis which means that you can’t really use the app unless you get invited by an existing Clubhouse user. Moreover, each user can only invite a maximum of two people. So if you are fortunate enough, you might find someone who hasn’t yet used their invites. And if more luck favors you, you may win yourself an invite from them. The invite-only system is going to stay for some time and it has seemed highly unlikely to be discontinued anytime soon. However, the Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison, assured us that the current invite-only system will be a thing of the past in the coming few months.
The downside of Clubhouse app on Android
Security has been a prime concern among the Clubhouse users. First of all, there are reports that women journalists are harassed and bullied on the platform while racism, COVID-19 denial, and hatred towards the Jewish community have also been reported on the audio conversations platform. Besides, there are reports that the Chinese company Agora Inc. has access to all the user IDs and audio conversations and is bound to collect and provide the same to the Chinese government on demand. However, Clubhouse promised to provide an extra layer of security by adding an extra layer of encryption to avoid data transmission to Chinese servers. Some reviews on the Google Play Store have also complained that people take over the room moderators and themselves become the moderators thereby creating lots of problems and abusing the whole purpose of the channel. Read this review by a Clubhouse user! Moreover, since the app has grown in popularity over the last few months, Google Play Store is flooded with innumerable fake versions of the apps.
So be cautious in identifying the right and legitimate one. The fake apps might have malware which can infect your phone and get access to your private information.
Best Clubhouse alternative apps
If you are not a huge fan of Clubhouse or just not able to access the app, take a look at these alternatives. These apps provide more or less the same features as Clubhouse, and in some cases, might be better than Clubhouse in terms of the features and security.
Twitter Spaces
Twitter Spaces is one of the best alternatives for Clubhouse. Launched in 2020, Twitter has been testing a limited group of people and concluded that people’s voices take conversations to a whole new level. When someone you follow on Twitter starts a space or speaks in a space, you’d see a purple bubble on the top of your Twitter timeline as long as the space is live. Once you join the space as a listener, you can react to the conversation with emojis, request to speak, DM the space, check pinned tweets, follow along with captions, and more.
Instagram Live Rooms
Instagram launched the Live Rooms feature in March 2021 which allows users to go live with up to three people. Earlier, Instagram only allowed you to go live with one person in a stream. Instagram says that increasing the number of broadcasters will pave the way for creative opportunities like starting a talk show, hosting a jam session, collaborate with other artists, organize Q&A sessions, and hang out casually with near and dear ones. Few other tools like riffr, Stereo, and Spoon are some of the popular apps in this niche. However, Instagram Spaces and Twitter Spaces hold the top two spots in my list. I hope I brought some value to your Android usage. Let me know in the comments section below if you already use Clubhouse or if you are planning to use any of the alternatives mentioned above. Until next time, take care and stay safe! Cheers!
