On Wednesday, July 14 Clubhouse finally added a direct messaging feature called Backchannel to its audio. It announced the feature on Twitter. Users had been asking for a way to communicate behind the scenes on the audio app. The feature has been released improving the usefulness of the popular social media app.

Last month, the invite-only social media app accidentally leaked the messaging feature to a few users who quickly updated the app on devices that support iOS and Android. Now, the social media voice-based app has launched the feature for all its users.

Backchannel is similar to most direct messaging apps that are already available to social media users. It is available in two ways: a one-to-one message app and as group chat. As of now, only links can be sent but images and videos could be sent in the future.

Clubhouse’s Backchannel focuses on messaging people you know or whom you would like to know. There is a message request area which holds messages from people you don’t know. Messages remain in that area till they get approved. Audio remains the major feature in the room.

Backchannel is available on both its iOS and Android app. Look for the tiny paper airplane icon on a person’s profile page or swipe right from the main menu and you can access direct messaging. Currently, it is not possible to delete messages, although they can be copied. Be careful when you send messages through the Backchannel.

Clubhouse reports more than ten million active users use its features every week. In early May, the iOS-based app finally released an Android based app and as a result reported eight million additional users. The year-old social audio app’s immense popularity made other giant social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Spotify scramble together and launch their own audio products.

Photo- https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/