Twitter is giving more users access to its new audio chatroom feature, Spaces. Android users can now join and listen to conversations in Spaces, but they still won't be able to host them.

A Limited Version of Spaces Lands on Android

Twitter unveiled Spaces in December 2020, and first rolled out a limited version of the feature on iOS in January 2021. Now, Android users are getting to dip their toes in the Clubhouse-like chatrooms as well.

The @TwitterSpaces account sent out a Tweet to announce the news. It noted that Android users can now "join and talk in any Space."

But like iOS users, Android users also won't be able to host their own Spaces until further notice. At the start of the Spaces beta, Twitter said that it's only letting a limited group of users host Spaces for testing purposes.

That rule is still in effect, which means both iOS and Android users can only listen to and talk in any existing Spaces conversations—for now.

Twitter still hasn't given users a solid timeline on when they'll be able to start hosting their own Spaces. In the Tweet, Twitter noted that users will be able to create Spaces "soon" and that it's "still working out some things," which is very vague, to say the least.

Twitter first made its foray into the world of audio with its addition of voice Tweets, but Spaces brings that level of auditory interaction to an entirely new level.

The Race to Build Live Audio Chatrooms

Despite Spaces' lack of functionality, Twitter is still one-upping its competition by speedily launching Spaces for all users and on all devices. Clubhouse, the platform that Spaces resembles the most, still remains in an invite-only state and is only available to users on iOS.

It's fair to say that Clubhouse triggered a social media-wide race to become the first app to incorporate live audio chatrooms. Twitter is likely Clubhouse's fiercest competition, followed by the Clubhouse copycat app that Facebook is rumored to be concocting.

That said, Spaces can easily become the Clubhouse alternative if the latter doesn't start making the app available to everyone on both iOS and Android in the near future.

Will Audio Chatrooms Become the Next Big Thing?

Audio chatrooms are becoming the next Story—the feature seems to be cropping up everywhere. But will audio-based chatrooms really become the next hottest trend? The live audio sessions might be fun to participate in (or even host), but it's too early to tell if the feature is here to stay, or if it will just be a short-lived fad.