Free audio chat app
Clubhouse is a free social network based on your voice. The most prominent feature that differentiates it from the likes of Telegram or Discord is that there’s no video element. Once you’ve been admitted to Clubhouse, you can either participate in conversations with people that you’re following or jump into a ‘conversation room’ and listen in.
There are some concerns about the app in relation to privacy. This is a modern app, so the recommended version of Android is the latest one, Android 11. However, as long as you have Android 8 or newer, you won't have any issues with it. Other similar apps include Discord and Telegram.
There are two ways to receive invites. The quicker way is if one of your contacts with your phone number invites you to join. New members are given two invites that they can use to bring in new members.
How do you get Clubhouse invites?
Alternatively, you can register on the waiting list, and when you get to the front of the queue, you’ll be admitted to the service and given two invites. This way is slower, but you don’t need to have a friend who’s already a member.
Is Clubhouse app safe?
Giving Clubhouse free access to your entire contact list could raise issues. It means that other users can see everyone you’ve ever been in contact with. People often have aspects of their lives that they prefer to keep private—maybe they see a specialist for health issues or have a lifestyle that they don’t want to be publicised. Therefore, you should think very carefully about who you have in your contacts because there’s no option to select which ones are seen. It’s all or nothing.
Casual social conversations
The concept of an invite-only app for casual, drop-in audio conversations sounds like a fantastic alternative to today’s visual-heavy social media landscape. However, being expected to hand over complete visibility of your contact list significantly compromises your privacy and that of your contacts.
Clubhouse is a great concept, but it doesn't appear to have been sufficient attention paid to privacy issues. Therefore, we feel uneasy about using the app and would recommend services such as Telegram and Discord which have much more robust security and privacy protocols.
