Clubhouse for Android enters beta, but users won't be able to access it easily

Social audio app Clubhouse took the iOS world by storm last year, allowing users to host temporary voice chat rooms which became very popular during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Rival social networks have slowly rolled our competing services, and the company has now begun beta testing its Android app, but it could be a while before you can start using the app.

Read more: Chingari founders launch Fireside, an Indian alternative to Clubhouse

On Sunday, the company posted its latest release notes for the beta versions mentioned several changes and improvements — among these was the first mention of the Android beta testing, as spotted by 9to5Google. The app is being tested in a (limited) closed beta, which is expected to expand shortly, the company stated.

“Android is not yet live, but we started rolling a rough beta version out to a handful of friendly testers. If you hear someone saying they are using Clubhouse on the official Android app, please give them a warm welcome!” the note read, adding that the service would add more Android users to Clubhouse over the next few weeks.

While the arrival of an Android client for Clubhouse is good news for users who want to try out the platform, several rival apps have already beat the service to the punch. Twitter’s Spaces offers similar functionality to Clubhouse and allows every user on the platform to join a Space, unlike Clubhouse which requires an invite — this may prevent users from being able to use the service even they manage to get hold of an APK and side-load the app.

Also read: Spotify plans hiring spree in bid to challenge Clubhouse

Similarly, Telegram, Reddit, Instagram, Facebook and many other rivals are either working on (or have successfully launched) competing services that offer similar features. These services are also unlikely to restrict access to users when they launch, which could pose a threat to Clubhouse, which had virtually no competition last year during the pandemic.