Airchat, a community media app that focuses on voice interactions, is gaining popularity after the success of Clubhouse. It was initially launched in 2023 and released a new app version on April 13th. Notable celebrities who have joined the Airchat community include Sam Altman from OpenAI, angel investor Gary Vaynerchuk from Uber and Facebook, and veteran media professional Taylor Lorenz, who specializes in community media reporting.
Similar to Clubhouse, Airchat operates on an invitation-only basis, where only those who receive an invitation link can join. Within two days of the new app version’s release, Airchat announced on the X social platform that due to an overwhelming influx of new users, they would temporarily limit each user to a maximum of two invitations.
So why has Airchat quickly gained popularity, and what features does it offer? The interface of Airchat is similar to X, allowing users to post and choose who to follow on their own pages. However, its main feature is that Airchat is a voice-centric community media platform. Users cannot type or copy and paste text to send messages; instead, all posts and comments can only be interacted with through voice.
Even though all expressions are done through voice recordings, Airchat uses AI transcription to convert the voice content into text. Users can still consume information by reading. Additionally, users can add images and links to their posts and also like and share any message.
Another feature of Airchat is the ability to create chat rooms for specific topics or individuals. Users in these chat rooms can engage in voice conversations, with the chat room being moderated by the creator. However, unlike Clubhouse, Airchat’s chat rooms are not limited to live interactions; they are more like Line groups where users only send voice messages.
The advantage of non-real-time voice interactions is that users can organize their thoughts more comprehensively through voice recordings. They can choose the right time to send their messages without worrying about interrupting others. This also reduces the nervousness users may feel when speaking in front of others.
When playing voice messages, the speaker’s profile picture is surrounded by a colorful animation, indicating who is currently speaking.
Airchat was created by Naval Ravikant, a prominent venture capitalist and co-founder of AngelList, along with Brian Norgard, the former product executive of Tinder. The core engineering team of Airchat currently consists of fewer than 10 members. Airchat aims to address the simple need of reconnecting people and fostering genuine conversations in an era where social media has become a battleground for various opinions, causing stress and pressure.
Naval Ravikant believes that voice messages can improve this situation. Compared to text, voice has more warmth and is less likely to be misunderstood. People usually speak with more consideration than when they type. The Airchat team believes that this relatively rational mode of communication can facilitate effective conversations on the platform.
There are mixed opinions from external media about Airchat. Adam Soccolich, a business consultant interviewed by Forbes, appreciates Airchat’s design, which allows users to choose when to engage in content discussions without the time constraints of real-time interactions like Clubhouse. On the other hand, Anthony Ha, a senior reporter from TechCrunch, believes that Airchat still cannot overcome the inherent drawbacks of voice messages. He points out that the default playback speed of Airchat’s voice messages is 2x, which sounds unnatural and contradicts the platform’s aim to convey “human warmth.” However, when users switch back to the original speed, lengthy voice messages are easily skipped and the main points may not be understood. Improving the inherent limitations of voice communication may be a significant challenge for Airchat in the future.
Sources:
Forbes, TechCrunch
Editor: Su Rouwei