The list of Clubhouse clones continues to grow, with more and more tech brands launching or developing (and reportedly developing) their own spin of the popular audio-only chat app. Most recently, it is said that audio streaming service Spotify and professional-oriented social media network LinkedIn have also joined in on the fad.
In an official announcement via its website, Spotify revealed that it had acquired Betty Labs and its Clubhouse-like audio chat app Locker Room. For the uninitiated, the app mainly focuses on sports related discussions, and is also currently an iOS exclusive. The streaming platform noted that it intends to rework Locker Room into “an enhanced live audio experience for a wider range of creators and fans”, therefore removing the sports-only limitation and opening up for more topics for discussion.
Spotify says that the chat app will remain separate from its main app, and will allow anyone to host their own audio-only chat rooms. The revamped Locker Room, which is due to launch in the coming months, will also be ported over to the Android platform. The company noted that the current version of the app will still be accessible to users prior to its planned relaunch.
#LinkedIn is working on Live Audio Rooms 👀
ℹ️ The feature doesn't work yet, there is only the UI at the moment. pic.twitter.com/Btt6FATXW3
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 30, 2021
Meanwhile, leakster and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi have discovered traces of coding in LinkedIn’s mobile app which points to, you guessed it, a potential audio-only chat service. Revealed to be tentatively named as “Live Audio Rooms”i, the new feature will enable users of the social network to host and organise chat rooms for group discussions or for conference-styled talks. Paluzzi noted that the chat service’s interface design looks similar to that of Clubhouse.
Nice find – you’ll be “hearing” more from us soon! P.S. 12 John Smiths would be a boring conversation, thanks for clarifying that is not our UI.
— Chris Szeto (@szetopia) March 30, 2021
At this time, it is not known when LinkedIn is planning to launch this new in-app service. Interestingly, shortly after the leakster’s posts in Twitter, the social network’s senior director of product Chris Szeto seemingly confirmed that this new feature is indeed coming and will be unveiled “soon”.
(Source: Spotify / Alessandro Paluzzi [1] [2])
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