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Audio app Clubhouse comes to Android, expanding beyond iOS

09 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

Clubhouse on Sunday announced that it will begin rolling out its beta version for Android.

Why it matters: Downloads for the app have plummeted as the pandemic begins to regress. Expanding the app to the second-largest operating system in the U.S. — and the largest globally — will help Clubhouse grow its audience.

Details: Until now, the app was only available via invitation to Apple iOS users. Starting Sunday, the app will be available to Android users in the U.S.

  • The Android version will roll out to English-speaking markets in the days and weeks ahead, followed by other countries globally.
  • Clubhouse will be continuing its invitation-only system for Android to help it roll-out product updates smoothly to a smaller group of people.

Android is finally here! You can download the Clubhouse beta right now in the US, & around the world in the coming days/weeks. 

Before you ask...yes, still invite-only. We're managing growth so we can build more sustainable infrastructure before the floodgates open. Soon(ish)! pic.twitter.com/EdltTZS0hD

— Clubhouse (@Clubhouse) May 9, 2021

The big picture: The live, social audio craze exploded during pandemic-driven lockdowns, and it looks like it's here to stay.

  • But Clubhouse is facing competition from new apps and tech companies like Twitter and Facebook that are building competitive products.
  • Clubhouse recently raised a new funding round valuing the app at $4 billion.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.