Clubhouse (app) facts for kids
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| Developer(s) | Alpha Exploration Co. | ||||
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| Initial release | March 2020 | ||||
| Stable release(s) [±] | |||||
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| Written in | Python Django Next.js |
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| Available in | English | ||||
| Type | Voice over IP (VoIP) | ||||
| License | Freeware | ||||
Clubhouse is a special mobile app for iOS and Android phones. It lets people talk to each other using only their voices, like a live podcast or a radio show where you can join in. It's known as a social audio app.
Clubhouse became very popular and inspired other big companies like Meta, Twitter, and Spotify to create similar voice-based apps.
Contents
The Story of Clubhouse
Clubhouse started as a new company in late 2019 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. It was first meant for podcasts and was called Talkshow. But then, it changed its name to "Clubhouse."
Early Days and Growth
The app officially launched for iOS phones in March 2020. It became very popular during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. At first, you could only join Clubhouse if someone invited you. This made it feel very exclusive.
By December 2020, Clubhouse had 600,000 users. In January 2021, the CEO, Paul Davison, shared that about 2 million people were using the app every week. That same month, it became very popular in Germany when some German podcast hosts started inviting many people. This brought many German influencers, journalists, and even politicians to the app.
Big Milestones
By February 2021, Clubhouse had been downloaded about 3.5 million times around the world. This number quickly grew to 8.1 million downloads by mid-February. This huge growth happened because famous people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg used the app.
A year after it launched, more than 10 million people were using Clubhouse every week. However, the number of users started to go down a bit after its first big boom. At one point, because it was invite-only, people were even selling invitation codes online for a lot of money!
New Features and Changes
In April 2021, Clubhouse added a new feature called Clubhouse Payments. This allowed users to send money directly to content creators on the app. This was a way for creators to earn money from their live shows.
Later, in May 2021, Clubhouse launched a test version of its app for Android users in the US. By May 21, 2021, the app was available worldwide for all Android users.
In July 2021, Clubhouse teamed up with TED to offer special talks. Also, on July 21, 2021, Clubhouse removed its invitation system. This meant anyone could download and join the app, though there was still a waiting list to manage new users. The company said 10 million people were on this waiting list at the time.
In September and October 2021, Clubhouse added more new features like "Wave," which lets you easily start a private chat, and "Replays and Clips," which allows creators to record and share parts of their conversations.
In April 2023, Clubhouse announced it was making its team smaller. This was part of a "reset" because the market changed a lot after the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Clubhouse Works
Clubhouse has several cool features that make it unique.
Rooms
The main part of Clubhouse is its live "rooms." These are like virtual spaces where people talk using only their voices. Rooms can be set up in different ways:
- Open rooms: Anyone on Clubhouse can join these.
- Social rooms: Only people followed by the room's leaders (called moderators) can join.
- Closed rooms: You need a special invitation from the moderators to join these.
Inside a room, you'll see three groups of people:
- The "stage": This is where the speakers are.
- "Followed by the speakers": These are people who the speakers follow.
- "Others in the room": Everyone else listening.
When someone creates a room, they become a "moderator." Moderators have special powers. They can invite people to speak, turn off someone's microphone (mute them), or remove speakers from the stage. A green star next to a user's name shows they are a moderator.
When you join a room, you start as a "listener." You can't speak at first. If you want to talk, you can tap the "raise hand" icon. If a moderator invites you to the stage, you become a "speaker" and can turn on your microphone. You can leave a room quietly by tapping the "leave quietly" button.
In August 2022, Clubhouse added a feature called "Houses." These are like private versions of rooms that are invite-only.
Events
While many Clubhouse chats happen spontaneously, users can also plan conversations ahead of time. This is done by creating "events." When you schedule an event, you give it a name, set the date and time, and can even add co-hosts to help manage it.
Once an event is created, it appears on the Clubhouse "bulletin." This bulletin shows all upcoming scheduled events. You can tap a bell icon next to an event to get a reminder when it's about to start. You can find the bulletin by tapping the calendar icon on the home page.
Clubs
Clubs are like communities within Clubhouse where users with similar interests can gather and chat regularly. There are many clubs covering all sorts of topics. You can search for clubs by name.
Clubs have three types of users:
- Members: They can create private rooms and invite others to the club.
- Leaders: They have all the member privileges and can also create or schedule public rooms for the club.
- Admins: They have the most power. They can change club settings, add or remove users, change user roles, and create any type of room.
Clubs can also have different membership rules:
- Open: Anyone can join by tapping "Join The Club."
- By Approval: Users need to apply, and an admin must approve their request.
- Closed: Membership is only for users chosen by the club admin.
When a public room is created within a club, all club members get a notification. Only active users can create a club, and the person who creates it becomes the admin. You can see the clubs you belong to on your profile page.
Backchannel
Backchannel is Clubhouse's messaging feature. It lets users send text messages to each other, either one-on-one or in groups. This was a big step because, for a long time, Clubhouse was only about voice. Before Backchannel, users had to use other apps like Instagram or Twitter to send text messages or links. Backchannel officially launched in July 2021.
Explore
The Clubhouse homepage shows you ongoing chat rooms that are recommended based on the people and clubs you follow. If you tap the magnifying glass icon, you go to the "Explore" page. Here, you can search for people and clubs to follow. You can also find conversations organized by different topics.
Clubhouse Payments
This feature allows users to send money directly to content creators on the app. If a creator has enabled this feature on their profile, you can tap their profile, then "Send Money," and enter the amount. The first time you do this, you'll need to add a credit or debit card. The creator receives the full amount, and you pay a small fee to Stripe, Clubhouse's payment partner.
Creator First
Clubhouse Creator First was a program designed to help content creators on Clubhouse grow their audience and earn money. The program paid 24 creator shows $5,000 a month for three months.
App Icon
Clubhouse has a unique app icon. It regularly changes to a grayscale profile photo of a social change leader or a platform user. Most companies hire designers for their icons, but Clubhouse uses photos of real people.
Past Clubhouse Icons
- May 2021 to June 2021 - Drue Kataoka
- February 2021 to May 2021 - Axel Mansoor
- December 2020 to February 2021 - Bomani X
Wave
The "Wave" feature lets you quickly let others know you're available for a private chat. It's a way to have more spontaneous and personal conversations on the app.
Recording
This feature allows creators to record entire conversations or short 30-second clips. These recordings can then be shared outside of the Clubhouse app. The company hoped this would help the app grow even more.
Where You Can Use Clubhouse
The Clubhouse app is available on Android phones (since May 2021) and iOS phones (since its launch). You can download the app from your phone's app store. For Android, you need Android 7 or newer. For iOS, you need iOS 13 or newer.
There's also a free desktop app for Mac and Windows called Clubdeck, made by Pierre Stanislas and Philippe Breuils. This unofficial app offers extra features not found in the official Clubhouse app, like adding sounds to your rooms.
How Clubhouse Makes Money
Currently, Clubhouse mostly runs on money from its investors. The company plans to make money in the future through tips from users, paid events, subscriptions, and by connecting creators with different brand partners for sponsorships.
In April 2021, the tipping feature was rolled out to some users in the United States. Clubhouse also promised sponsorships to its Creator First shows.
Clubhouse competes with many other social audio apps. Some of these include Discord Stage Channels, Facebook Live Audio Rooms, Reddit Talk, Fanbase, Slack Huddles, Spotify Greenroom, Telegram Voice Chats, and Twitter Spaces.
See also
- Spoon Radio
- Zello
