The clubhouse has been a trending topic among various social media users. It enjoys a larger audience which keeps them hooked on its mind-blowing features. This application has been an absolute favorite choice for millennials. It has been successful in gaining much popularity in recent years. But still, there is a section of people who are unaware of this application. If you are interested in developing audio-only social media apps like Clubhouse, go through this article. Here, we will discuss everything related to its wonderful features and development process. But first of all, let’s get into the basics of the Clubhouse.
What is Clubhouse?
It is a social audio application that enables thousands of users to communicate with each other in audio chat rooms. People can be a part of any chat room, depending upon their liking. The conversations taking place in this application are not related to specific topics. The discussion topics could be very diverse, i.e., related to health, lifestyle, fashion, humor, etc. Initially, it was available for the iOS platform, but now it is available for Android as well.
Popularity behind Clubhouse
The instant rise to fame for the Clubhouse has been the talk of the town. The following reasons justify the reasons behind its popularity;
- The “only audio” feature has garnered much attention among the users. This attribute allows exchanging ideas only through an audio format with no text messages and video streaming options. This makes the app an exclusive one.
- The users felt that this app is much more engaging than the other ones. Only a few selected VIPs are allowed to speak, which makes the entire conversation more delightful and pleasing.
- The conversations that take place in the chatroom are more worthwhile. There are hosts that can mute and unmute the speakers at any point. The participants have to raise their hands to get approval before speaking.
- There is no hard rule for people to speak if they don’t feel like it. There is no peer pressure on them; they can relax, sit down and listen
Statistics
- Clubhouse hosted up to 10 million active users every week
- In popularity, it was ranked as the 5th most popular app in 2021
- In 2022, it was the 18th most downloaded app on iOS
- The valuation of this app as of 2021 was $4 billion
- Around 28 million downloads have been recorded worldwide
- Very popular celebrities who have been on this app are Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Drake, Oprah Winfrey, etc
- The United States, Japan, and Germany are the top 3 markets for this application
- The average usage is between 11 – 22 hours per week
- There is a capacity of 5000 persons in the clubhouse rooms
- It has a rating of 4.8 on the Apple app store
- Launched in 2020, it started with 9 employees, but now it has around 80 employees
- Initially, it was an invite-only app, but now anyone can sign up as a new user
Functioning of audio-only social media app like Clubhouse
- Firstly, the users can see so many existing chat rooms. It depends on them which one to join. On the other hand, the users can create their own chat rooms. In the beginning, the user is always muted; to participate in the discussion, they can raise their hands. The person who controls this entire scenario is known as the moderator. At any point, if a person feels like leaving the discussion, then they can click on “Leave Quietly.”
- There are various kinds of rooms in the Clubhouse, such as open public rooms (that anyone can join), closed rooms (which require permission), and social rooms (limited to the followers). Besides this, there are several memberships such as founder (owner that invites members), members (that can either create their own or join other chat rooms), admin (appointed by the founder to add or remove any member), follower (participate only in public activities)
- When the user joins the application, there is an inbuilt list of friends that are already on the app. One can connect with them directly inside or outside the server
- This application is very straightforward in building a profile and helps users link their social media accounts to the app. To login, simply enter your credentials and get connected
How to build an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse?
Research
App development is a huge process and requires heaps of money. So, before investing money, proper research should be done related to its viability. It is very important to know the current trend of the market and the mood of people. The other essential thing is to check whether the audience is taking this a step further toward conversion or not. The proper research work also helps the organization to see what features similar products are lacking. It helps in gaining information about the likes and dislikes of the people. In case of shortcomings, one should build a plan to add features according to the user’s requirement. All these things do matter a lot and give an edge over the competitors.
As we know, Clubhouse is a slightly different application that doesn’t have so much competition against it. Therefore, building an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse at this time will be superb.
The version of the product
Before developing and launching a brand new product in the market, it’s necessary to get an insight into its future. The initial version of the product is known as MVP (minimum viable product), which is available to a restricted set of people in a limited geographical area. This is done to check the response of the people towards the product before actually getting launched.
Then comes the MLP (minimum lovable product). In this age of technology, the market is filled with so many applications. So the app developers must include all the attributes that cater to the users’ needs. If any of the problems remain unaddressed, then the users will also shift to some other app. In this type, only the core attributes are built with an aim to capture the emotional quotient of the user/ audience.
In this time where app development has taken the lead, merely getting noticed among the people is not a great idea. One has to put extra effort into making sure the users will like it. In such a scenario, MLP is an infallible feature that is striking, incredible, and phenomenal.
Design & Development
The Clubhouse like Audio Social App Development and design has many stages, and utmost precaution is taken during the entire process. This stage probably takes considerable time and effort. Some of the most necessary steps are illustrated below
- Low-fidelity prototype: In this type, the outer representation is made on paper or board. These can be compiled as digital sketches. It is done to create an amazing user experience design. This design helps in getting an understanding related to buttons as to where they are getting directed and the relation between different screens.
- Medium-fidelity prototype: This type provides the fundamental understanding of the user interface and makes certain that the owner and the application development team are on the same page.
C. High-fidelity prototype
When the complete design of the application is framed, then the robust representation of the finalized design is put forward. Several companies recommend using these high-fidelity prototypes in the app mockup mode. It is the most effective way to give access to this prototype to a certain range of beta users.
Before moving forward, another checklist is to see on which platform one needs to launch the product. If the budget is big, then one can go for both platforms, i.e., iOS and Android. But if one has a restricted budget, then choose either of the platforms. Just see which audience you want to target, and after successful delivery, launch the product to other platforms.
- Taking note of the Feedback: When the app is in its initial stage, then it becomes a prerequisite to check its performance. There are various benchmarks that need to be accomplished. One needs to check for the active users and, most importantly, look out for the bounce rate. The figure related to the number of downloads is crucial, which decides how much users are interested in the app. Other things like everyday sessions and a screen flow option for estimating the user’s experience. The proper observation of the application is mandatory to see how it performs. If there are some inputs provided by the users, then they should be taken into consideration. The feedback should be taken very seriously as it helps in finding flaws. After accumulating the feedback, see for the authenticity and try to incorporate things.
Cost to make an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse
While making an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse, some factors should be considered, like backend infrastructure design and development, technology stack, location of the development company, and addition of the visual design elements. It is advisable to sit with a team of developers and try to evaluate the pricing of everything from start to finish.
The total estimated cost to build an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse is approximately $200,000. Around $150 per hour is charged in the USA and Europe. The prices are subjected to the features that one would like to fuse in the application.
Final words
The demand for the clubhouse app has been on the rise. It’s a great opportunity for Clubhouse like Audio Social App Development to get launched and cater to the user’s needs. At Suffescom Solutions, we are a team of experts that will help you in developing an audio-only social media app like Clubhouse.
