The audio social media app Clubhouse has gained massive popularity since its inception in 2020. It has gained over 10 million followers within 1 year and has about 2 million active users weekly. The app involves recording and publishing a voice message just like a normal social media post. Users listen and participate in different conversations on different topics. The app has mostly drawn elites and celebrities. Currently, the app is only on iOS but in regards to its popularity, Android users have also been demanding it strongly. There is still no clubhouse for Android phones but there are various clones and clients that provide the same features as Clubhouse on iOS.
The audio-based app is invite-only which means that a regular user cannot join without some virtual elitism. Either an existing Clubhouse member can invite others through a code or an invite can be purchased from online brokers. The rate normally stands between 10-99 USD, depending on the topic of conversation one wants to join (it can increase if more elites are in the group). The app has been widely accepted by users who like to dominate the internet by oversharing, and also others who just like to lurk in the shadows and observe the on-goings.
Both kinds of users would get the same kind of experience in clones as well. Here are 3 of the best ones. By the way, these are entirely different clones built from scratch and not only clients for Clubhouse.
Clubrooms as Clubhouse for Android
Clubrooms is built on the React Native platform and is one of the most popular clones of Clubhouse for Android. It has its own audio broadcasting technology and offers Backend and Custom Microservices Architecture for audio conferences. These features give the app ability to create massive chatrooms for thousands of users. Reportedly, it receives regular updates and soon there will be an option of dark mode and a web version as well.
Currently, there is no feature to record audio but according to reports, it is also coming in later updates. Moreover, chatrooms are restricted to geolocation based on IP address so, the user cannot join a room from a country of their own choice.
Unlike clubhouse, this app does not require invitation codes on both Android and iOS. However, on iOS it is still in the beta phase so users have to download it through Test Flight.
MiTalk by Xiaomi
Xiaomi’s commination service Mi Talk was not always an audio-based social app like clubhouse. The company officially closed the messaging app and then rebranded it with a new mission statement. It announced in February 2021 that it has revived Mi Talk with a voice chat feature targeted at professionals.
A small number of users received initial invitations for closed testing. Others were informed to register and wait for an invitation. However, employees of Xiaomi can use it with their registered contact number instead of waiting for the invite.
It might not be the popular clone of Clubhouse for Android but it is still trustworthy than most. Users must be wary of the various Clubhouse-looking apps that usually turn out to be full of malware.
Twitter Spaces
Popular social media platform Twitter revealed the direct competitor of Clubhouse at the end of last year. This feature was different from Audio Tweets, which faced a lot of criticism from users. However, the bird app was finally able to capture a portion of the audio-based chat market by introducing Spaces. It was also an iOS-exclusive feature initially but recently it has become the biggest competitor of Clubhouse on android. The original audio-chat app might have to struggle when it comes to android as Twitter Spaces also does not need any invite code.
Spaces is rapidly reaching out to a wider audience unlike clubhouse due to its exclusivity. It will soon capture a bigger market including a regular audience that always tries to interact with celebrities and other professionals. Another advantage that Spaces enjoy over clubhouse is that its users, who already have accounts can join any room they want from the pages they have already liked.
