Audio-only social media app Clubhouse blew up recently when Elon Musk posted on Twitter that he was going to log in to the app. Since the app has soared in popularity on iOS, social media giant Facebook could be working on its own Clubhouse rival to bring the audio-only chat app down. This is speculated to be attempted with the help of a new feature in Messenger Rooms, as per photos shared on Twitter by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi.
Paluzzi chanced upon the new, experimental feature in Facebook’s Android app code, which allows users to choose the type of room they want in Messenger Rooms. The options include a private audio room with friends, a private video room and a live audio broadcast to listeners in a room. There hasn’t been a public broadcast feature in Messenger Rooms. Paluzzi also says that any Facebook user would be able to join in a broadcast without opening Messenger Rooms.

While Facebook may be looking forward to rolling this feature out, Clubhouse is also planning to expand to the Android platform. Clubhouse cofounder Paul Davidson had confirmed in an interview that an Android app for the currently popular social media app is the “top feature” in development. The interview was hosted by journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin with Bill Gates and Paul Davidson. In the interview, Gates explained at one instance the reason why he didn’t use an iPhone. He said: “Some of the Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me. They’re more flexible about how the software connects up with the operating system. So that’s what I ended up getting used to.”
Davidson then added his own bit to the conversation by saying that a Clubhouse Android app is the “top feature” which means that the developers at the company are busy working on the Android version of the app.