Clubhouse to launch Android app worldwide in a week

Voice social network Clubhouse said on Sunday it will expand its Android app worldwide in a week, days after launching a beta version of its service on Google-owned mobile operating system for users in the U.S.

The startup — backed by A16z, Tiger Global and DST Global and valued at about $4 billion — said it will roll out the Android app to Japan, Brazil, and Russia on Tuesday; Nigeria and India three days later, and rest of the world by Friday afternoon.

Clubhouse originally launched as an iPhone-only app last year. The app quickly gained popularity last year, attracting several high-profile celebrities, politicians, investors and entrepreneurs.

The startup began developing the Android app early this year and started to test the beta version externally this month. In a town hall earlier this month, the startup said availability on Android has been the most requested product feature.

Clubhouse’s global rollout on Android comes at a time when scores of technology firm including Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Spotify, Reddit and Microsoft’s LinkedIn, have either launched their similar offerings — or announced plans to do so.

Twitter’s clone of Clubhouse, called Spaces, has emerged as one of the biggest competitors.

Meanwhile, Clubhouse has struggled to maintain its growth pace in recent months — based on download figure estimates by several mobile insight firms. The Android app could potentially help the startup court more users.

The startup continues to maintain an invitation system for onboarding new users, saying that this is part of its effort to “keep the growth measured.”

The Android app of Clubhouse currently lacks a number of features. At the time of launch last week, users couldn’t follow a topic, create or manage a club, link their social profiles, make payments, or change their profile name of user name. The startup said it is working to bring iOS features to the Android app.