Twitter launches Spaces voice chats for Android
Twitter has announced the opening of live voice chat rooms, known as Twitter Spaces, for users across Android devices.
The trial was previously open to iOS users only after the product's beta release was launched in late December 2020.
The company says:
Android users will be able to join and chat on Twitter Spaces at the moment, but they will not be able to start their own space.
Twitter explains that this add-on is expected to be available soon, without providing a specific timeframe.
The company had been working quickly to roll out Twitter Spaces in the months after the product debuted, and was somewhat transparent about its roadmap.
And last month, the team that developed Twitter Spaces hosted a space where users were invited to provide comments, ask questions, and learn what Twitter has done about the product's business in the near and long term.
During this live chat, Twitter confirmed that the product was coming to Android in March, and also promised to fix how to view listeners, which has since been introduced.
Spaces' other features are shared publicly due to their design and prototypes, including things like: titles, descriptions, scheduling options, support for hosts, moderators, guest lists, and more.
Twitter has also updated the preview card that appears in the timeline and renamed its captions feature to be more precise, from an accessibility point of view.
The timeframe for some new developments - such as Android and scheduling options - was promised in weeks, not months.
This rapid pace has now led to Twitter defeating its rival Clubhouse, which is currently the leading player in the audio-only social media space in terms of providing support for the Android system, as Clubhouse still works on iOS only.
This fast pace is also an indication of the resources Twitter is putting in place for this new product, which was first announced in November.
Twitter clearly believes that the audio-only social media field is a market that needs to be won.
The company also sees the broader potential of the Spaces product as an integral part of a larger platform for creators now in action.
And Twitter last week talked about linking its new products together, such as: Spaces and Newsletters, with the paid subscription Super Follow.
The company is now testing a shopping card that would allow users to post tweets that link directly to product pages via the shopping button.
Android folks, our beta is growing! starting today you will be able to join and talk in any Space. SOON you’ll be able to create your own but we’re still working out some things. keep your 👀 out for live Spaces above your home tl
— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) March 2, 2021