Clubhouse Introduces Support for ‘Web Listening’ to Widen Access

Clubhouse — the popular social audio chat app — on Friday announced that it is now allowing anyone to listen to conversations taking place on the platform through the Web. The experience is initially rolling out for Clubhouse users in the US and will work for both replays and live rooms with replays enabled. It does not require listeners to have the Clubhouse app installed on their devices or signed in on the platform. Separately, Clubhouse is bringing an option to let users share sessions they are attending on the app to any social media network or via a messaging app.

Since its debut back in March 2020, Clubhouse has required users to sign in to join a conversation taking place on the platform. The app also initially started its journey as an invite-only solution. It, however, making a change in the existing model by introducing ‘Web Listening’ that allows people to listen to conversations happening in Clubhouse rooms using their phone or laptop, without needing to download the app or log in.

To allow users to listen to their content using a Web browser, creators will need to have replays enabled in their virtual rooms. The replays feature is designed to let users listen to the recording of a live conversation on the app at a later stage.

Clubhouse noted that ‘Web Listening’ is rolling out as an experiment, which means you may notice some bugs at the initial stage. Also, the experience is presently limited to the US, though the team is open to expanding it to more countries — and to more room types — over time.

In November, Twitter took a similar step and allowed users to listen to conversations taking place through its audio-only feature Spaces without an account.

Alongside giving the ability to listen to conversations through the Web, Clubhouse is enabling users to share conversations via a social network or copy its link to share via a messaging app. Dedicated Share via… and Copy Link options appear once you tap the Share button in a room to let you share the particular conversation with a larger audience.

There is also a Share on Clubhouse option that you can use to share the virtual room with your followers on the app. You can also add a comment along with access to the room when you select the option in question.

Clubhouse is also launching Share and Clip counts at the bottom of the room to help creators with insights on how many times their rooms are being shared. It also brings a new Room Insights page where creators will get more insights in the future, the company said.

The updated sharing experience on Clubhouse is starting to roll out to both Android and iOS users this week.

Overall, Clubhouse’s attempt with the new features is to go beyond its app and make conversations on the platform accessible more widely. It, though, seems to have lost some steam that it had gathered with celebrities including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg participating in Clubhouse rooms. The app has also been criticised for poor moderation practices and a growing number of adult rooms.