The invite-only audio app - Clubhouse - has blown up recently proving that live podcasts are the new trend in the social media app market.
The Clubhouse was launched in the spring of 2020, but the app gained traction a year later. All it takes was to have Elon Musk stepping into the chatroom and news about Clubhouse went viral. Today, the voice chat app is valued at around $1 billion that makes it a Unicorn startup, joining the club of Uber and Airbnb.
Despite the influencing effect of Elon Musk, Clubhouse showed that there still space for new opportunities in the crowded market of social media applications. So, if you desperately want to know How to build an app like Clubhouse? or How long does it take to make an app like Clubhouse? This article is for you.
What is Clubhouse App?
The Clubhouse is a social media app based on audio-chat. The app allows you to listen to conversations and discussions of different people. It’s sort of a mix of talkback radio and part of the conference call. It’s like listening to someone else’s phone call but legally.
The voice chat app Clubhouse was launched in April 2020 by Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth, the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. In May 2020, Clubhouse had just 1,500 users, and was worth $100m. Since January the app increased its user base by 5x and currently, the Clubhouse has 10+ million active users.
Today, the app is the 5th most popular app in the category of the Social Media Network in the App Store (behind Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Discord). In fact, Clubhouse is so popular that Facebook claimed to build its own version of the app while Discord and Telegram are thinking on adding Clubhouse-like features to their services.
Right now Clubhouse is only available on iOS. But founders announced that they’re currently planning to work on an Android version of the app.
The platform isn’t monetized yet. However, Clubhouse is planning to roll out beta tests for monetization options later this year. Specifically, they’re going to focus on a crowdfunding model that pays creators directly vs. display ads (like Facebook and YouTube).
Learn more Why Is Clubhouse So Hot Right Now?
How Does the Clubhouse App Work?
You can’t create an account by yourself and join the app. Clubhouse is an invite-only application. Once you have been invited, you can set up your profile and choose interests (business, fitness, tech, etc..). Based on your interest the app will suggest the conversation rooms you can join or recommend people to follow. When these steps are completed, the user is redirected to the feed section of the app.
The main feed includes the list of the current and upcoming chat rooms. The conversation rooms are similar to conference calls. But only some people on the call are talking and others are listening. Once the conversation is over, the room is closed. Within the room, a participant can: leave, add another person or raise a hand. Each room has moderators, speakers, and listeners.
The app has an explore section to help users find people, rooms, and clubs of interest. The clubs are similar to groups on other social media platforms. A user can either follow a club or be added to it as a member by the club creators.
The invite section allows inviting someone to join the Clubhouse. The upcoming events tab shows all rooms created by people a user follows. In the activity section, users can see who just joined the app or followed them, as well as newly scheduled rooms.
Key Features for Building a Clubhouse-Like App
Onboarding - New users signing up for the app would be asked to fill in their names and upload a profile picture. Once that’s done, users are allowed to join any rooms as they wish.
Feed - A list of rooms that may be of interest are shown on the feed.
User Profiles - No fancy introductions are required on Clubhouse. Only name, profile picture, and a short description are needed.
Clubs - Clubs are groups that are created around topics. They help to bring people with the same interest together.
Search - Allows users to search for topics and personalities of interest.
Upcoming For You - A schedule of events like discussions that are yet to come. Users can opt to be alerted of selected events.
Activity - A historical log of activities on your account. You can find out who is following you, new members, and on-going events in Clubhouse.
Notifications - This allows you to be notified of interesting events like the start of a new conversation or new members joining a room.
How to Build an App like Clubhouse: a Step-by-Step Guide
Let’s talk about how to build a Clubhouse-like app. Basically, your task is not to copy Clubhouse but create a better version of this app. That is why your app has to solve a problem that your target market has. Therefore, you need to find the Product/Market fit for your app. Product-market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market. To do so you need:
Do Market Research
Even if you are trying to build the next Clubhouse app, you need to carry out market research. Find out how similar voice chat apps are working. Study their strengths and weaknesses to create a competitive edge and unique solution for your app.
Good market research will help you to frame your Value Proposition which in other words means how you are going to face the competition.
We recommend using a lean canvas to help you deconstruct the ideas into the key assumptions about your product. The canvas allows evaluating the current market needs and understands what exactly your solution will be like.
Identify Target Audience
The target audience eventually will decide whether to download and use your app or not.So, it makes sense to understand user needs and preferences. To do so, you need to create a “user personas” (a.k.a. your potential user).
User personas help you to define needs and behavior of people who you are building the product for. To identify your target customer, you need to start from high-level research then refine and narrow down your choices until you find the ultimate buyer persona.
MVP “Clubhouse” development
We recommend you build a minimum viable product (MVP) first. A MVP is a basic version of an application released to test your business idea and get initial user feedback. With an MVP, you can spend less on your app and see how well it performs before adding more features to it.
A voice-chatting application needs a bit more than regular mobile and backend development. What’s required to create a social media app like Clubhouse is a Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP. This service lies behind the main function of such an application: transmitting audio from user to user instantly and smoothly.
Test the MVP Prototype
The MVP should be tested, so your users won’t get an application with poor performance. Due to VoIP services and voice-transmitting functionality the connection reliability should be checked especially well when you make an app like Clubhouse.
Sufficient time for quality assurance of the app equals at least 20% of the development time. You can also opt for testing in production, a practice where software is tested while already available to real users. This method helps with identifying the most prominent bugs in your application and fixing them right away.
Review the Feedback
Once users are trying out the MVP release, you’ll want to be on the alert of potential issues. Feedback is a great way to know the strengths and weaknesses of the own application. Rather than banking on analytics, it’s best to interview users for feedback on their experience in using the app. Through the feedback, you’ll pinpoint issues and areas of improvement that can be acted on in the next release.
Social media is an ever-evolving niche. To ensure your app remains relevant, you’ll want to make feedback part of your long-term strategies in maintaining the app.
How Long Does it Take to Make a Clubhouse-like App?
Those who are so keen on using social media platforms always look for intuitive feature-rich apps that could be counted as a new trend in the market. The launch of the Clubhouse app has already shaken the foundation of apps like Whatsapp and Messanger. With the number of similar apps apperaring every day, you need to deeply probe into the features of yours and how complex it could be for the developers to build such an app.
The development period of an app relies much upon the complexity. The approximate time estimation to build an app like Clubhouse is at least 6 months. Hence, if you are considering employing more functionalities in your Clubhouse doppelganger app, you can estimate the development period based on the features, functionalities, design, and other technical aspects.
How Can We Help You To Build An App?
We may not be able to get Elon Musk on your app, but we can build a voice chat app like Clubhouse that has the potential to do so.
2muchcoffee is experienced in building successful mobile apps of any complexity. Our team offers a complete suite of services from design to support after the release. As a tech partner, our goal to assist founders in the journey of product developmnet.
Final Thoughts
The app is still niche, but as it was clear Clubhouse can become huge virtually overnight and dictate new rules for the social media world.
With the right idea you can create an app even better than Clubhouse. Research the market and decide what will make your application different. Hire a reliable development team to bring your idea to life. In just a few months, you’ll be ready to conquer the market with your own voice chat app.
We hope our article helped you understand how to build an app like Clubhouse. If you still have questions, our team is here to answer them.
