Clubhouse is reinventing itself as an audio messaging app

Social app Clubhouse which took off during the pandemic is kind of back. As detailed in a blog post from the company, the app that popularized social audio rooms is reinventing itself “to be more like a messaging app” with new voice-only group chats called “chats.” 

The audio-based app gained popularity for hosting “podcast-style conversations”, often revolving around networking, professional development, and new ideas.

But its buzz didn’t last, because this year in April, Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth made the “difficult” decision to scale back their team by over fifty percent, writing to employees, “To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. This requires a period of change.”

Now, the app has officially made its comeback. The new Clubhouse is more like a messaging app than before, purport the founders. The biggest update is “Chats”, a new voice-only chat forum for users and their friends.

What exactly does this look like? Group voice chats can be set to “friends only” or “friends-of-friends”, no longer anonymous chat rooms with wider communities. Also, unlike WhatsApp group chats, the Clubhouse user interface is more colorful and personal — which is probably a big selling point. There are a bunch of other small updates to the app, with old features having been removed.

Notably, live rooms will still be a part of the app. But Clubhouse appears to be shifting to a more intimate social setup, prioritizing friends and personal chats over communities. The algorithm, for example, will emphasize friends more significantly.

The statement reads:

Clubhouse, rebooted, is now available on iOS and Android.