At the beginning of 2021, when Clubhouse was the only app that anyone spoke about, including your favourite tech billionaires, it made a name for itself by being audio and invite-only, as well as being exclusive to iOS devices.
Before the start of this week, two of those things changed, with Clubhouse now more readily available and accessible. We can also chalk off audio-only from that list, with the platform adding a text-based chat to the its offerings.
“Today we’re introducing in-room chat which will allow users—from the mods to the listeners in the audience—to communicate with each other via text during a live room,” Clubhouse explained in a blog post.
“For creators, in-room chat will offer another touchpoint with audiences in a room and provide a way to get feedback in real time,” it adds.
Further unpacking how the feature will work, along with what functionality it will offer once available, Clubhouse highlighted the following:
- “Creators in control. Creators will always have full control over in-room chat. You can decide if chats are enabled when you start a room via the room composer. Creators also can delete any message during the live rooms or after a room ends and turn off in- room chat at any time during the room.
- Delete your typos. If you’ve sent a message and want to delete it, you can delete your own messages during the live room or after a room ends.
- Mods can mod. You can appoint mods to help you maintain the tone you want for your room and they will be able to delete messages during the live room. As always, your mods can also remove anyone disruptive from the room.
- Report chats that violate our guidelines. If someone violates our guidelines in chat you can report them directly from the chat. Long press on their name and hit report. You can also long press to block them.
- Catch up on chats after the room is over. Room chats will also appear when someone is listening to the Replay of the room (though they won’t be able to add any additional comments to the chat).”
The new chat feature has begun rolling out to both iOS and Android devices from today, the company confirmed, with the chat icon appearing on the bottom left of the screen (as seen above), letting you know it is available.
