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During the pandemic, social app Clubhouse took off. The audio-based app gained popularity for hosting "podcast-style conversations", often revolving around networking, professional development, and new ideas.

But its buzz didn't last. And in April of this year, Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth made the "difficult" decision to scale back their team by over fifty percent, writing to employees, "To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. This requires a period of change."

Now, the app has officially made its comeback. The new Clubhouse is more like a messaging app than before, purport the founders. The biggest update is "Chats", a new voice-only chat forum for users and their friends.

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Credit: Clubhouse

What exactly does this look like? Group voice chats can be set to "friends only" or "friends-of-friends", no longer anonymous chat rooms with wider communities. Also, unlike WhatsApp group chats, the Clubhouse user interface is more colorful and personal — which is probably a big selling point. There are a bunch of other small updates to the app, with old features having been removed.

Notably, live rooms will still be a part of the app. But Clubhouse appears to be shifting to a more intimate social setup, prioritizing friends and personal chats over communities. The algorithm, for example, will emphasize friends more significantly. "The new update is a big evolution of Clubhouse," reads a statement. "Designed to let you talk with your favorite people more easily, every time you open the app."

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Clubhouse, rebooted, is now available on iOS and Android.