This story was originally published and last updated .
Last week Clubhouse announced that its highly-anticipated Android app was finally real, at least in the sense that there were a few people using it. At the time it was limited to “friendly testers” in a closed beta. Today it’s available for all on Android. Well, sort of: “all” is still limited to those who have invitations to the audio chatroom service. But hey, at least you can use the app to reserve a username.
Clubhouse is the hot minimalist app of the moment over on iOS, where users have been clamoring for an invite to its closed beta for over a year. Its appeal is being able to listen in to real-time audio chats from the cadre of celebrities the service has been able to attract. (You could also host an audio chat yourself, if you’re into that sort of thing.) Clubhouse has grabbed so much attention that everyone and their dog has set out to copy it, or to buy someone who already has. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, and Telegram all have competing services ready or in the making.
Those who really want to get past the velvet rope can use the Android app to reserve their username and get on the waiting list. If you have an invitation, you can punch it in and see what all the fuss is about. Based on the screenshots posted to the Play Store, it’s more or less identical to the iOS app. The Clubhouse app is also available on APK Mirror.
Expanding worldwide this week
According to a Twitter post from the official Clubhouse account, the service will be available on Android worldwide as of Friday, May 21st. That was fast.
Android rollout continues!
Japan, Brazil & Russia coming Tuesday
Nigeria & India on Friday AM
Rest of world throughout the week, and available worldwide by Friday afternoon
— Clubhouse (@Clubhouse) May 16, 2021
In addition, Clubhouse has been iterating the beta version of the Android app rapidly. There have been four new versions of the app posted within the last week, chronicled on APK Mirror, and app descriptions say they’re opening up new users and issuing invitations rapidly.
Other news outlets have guessed that Clubhouse is viewing Android as a means of keeping up its breakneck pace of expansion, as downloads of the iOS app have stalled, apparently saturating its market of potential users. Opening up the service to a billion or so Android users, and doing so as quickly as possible, would make a lot of sense.
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