Only a few days after its global launch on Android, social audio app Clubhouse has topped one million downloads on the Google Play Store. The app made its first appearance on the platform as a beta on May 10 but was only accessible by users residing in the U.S.
Clubhouse initially launched in March of 2020 as an invite-only social media app for iOS where users communicate in voice chat rooms that accommodate groups of up to 5,000 people. It quickly gained popularity, growing to over 10 million users in just a year, after prominent figures like Elon Musk, Oprah, and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances on the audio-only platform.
Despite its wider availability, Clubhouse still requires an invitation from an existing member to get access. According to the company, that is because it wants to ensure that its team can manage the growth of its user base and continue refining the app to support a larger audience.
The app"s success has attracted a large number of established competitors to the fast-growing live audio space. Facebook is reportedly developing its own Clubhouse-like audio chat service, while Facebook-owned Instagram has already released its Live Rooms feature. In December of last year, Twitter launched an experimental voice-based chat room on iOS called Spaces, before expanding to Android in March. Other companies such as Discord, Slack, and Reddit have also announced similar features.