Airchat, the new social media app that attracts high-profile users and investors from Sam Altman of OpenAI The proposal, addressed to Accomplice VC’s Jeff Fagnan, is a gentle departure from the usual cacophony of social media chatter, while still putting users’ voices front and center.
Airchat first launched in mid-2023 and is still invite-only. Bloomberg reported this week that invitations have been circulating in Silicon Valley in large numbers recently after the app was relaunched this month. According to the publication, more than 30,000 of his 45,000 downloads of Airchat occurred this month.
entrepreneur We secured an invite and tested the app to see if it was worth the hype.
If you feel blinded by long social media posts and overstimulated by endless videos, Airchat is the medium for you.
Anyone who has ever scrolled through Facebook or threads will immediately understand Airchat. This app combines the standard newsfeed format with voice notes directly from the user. Users talk to the app, but there is no option to type a post. As followers scroll through their feed, they not only see the AI-generated transcription, but also hear the audio.
If users want to comment on a post, they will also record audio of their thoughts. The entire app is a series of continuous conversations.
Air chat feed of voice recordings and posts transcribed by AI.Credit: Entrepreneur
The concept of Airchat is to help users stay focused on the conversation what’s happening nowso you don’t catch up on what you missed.
“We want a home party in our pocket,” Airchat co-founder Naval Ravikant told Bloomberg. “I want to be able to pull out this phone any time I want and talk to someone who’s funny and fun and witty.”
Related: OpenAI postpones release of new AI voice generator
what works
As I scrolled through my Airchat feed, I noticed that the presence of other people’s voices grabbed my attention, but it wasn’t as abrupt as a TikTok video or YouTube Short. It also felt more immersive than scrolling through text-heavy posts on Facebook.
That being said, there is an option to upload videos that no one is using. It was an audio-centric platform.
You can press the play button in the bottom right corner of the screen to play all the audio clips of the people you follow in your newsfeed, or manually scroll to find the clips that interest you the most.
If you feel blinded by long social media posts and overstimulated by endless videos, Airchat is the medium for you.
The focus of the app is not on influencers, and Ravikanth said the app is more like a social messenger like WhatsApp or WeChat than an influencer platform.
The two founders, Ravikant and former Tinder executive Brian Norgard, were both active in Airchat.
Posted by Ravikant.Credit: Entrepreneur
Posted by Norgaard.Credit: Entrepreneur
My overall impression was that this app is very personal and thoughtful in a way that mainstream social media apps don’t have today.
When comparing Airchat to Twitter (now X), Ravikant summed it up perfectly with Airchat’s voice. He said Twitter used to be his social media of choice, until he saw hundreds of people paraphrasing his statements in different ways.
“Or you’ll see people copying the same content a year or two later,” he continued. “You really want to say it, right? Let’s talk about it in person. Get in the ring…and I think that’s what this app does. People who are incredibly resourceful can really shine. Or incredibly resourceful. He is a very empathetic person.” ”
Listening to Ravikant added a human element to the app. Social media fights bots, so it’s important to add authenticity to your tone.
Unlike competing social audio app Clubhouse, Airchat is not about having live conversations, but about having an ongoing conversation over time without feeling pressured to respond right away. The purpose is Airchat seems to adhere to Clubhouse’s mission of friends over followers, but the user experience for both apps is different.
Things that can help improve
Synthetic voices are already being used for fraud, and their use by users could undermine the authenticity of Airchat.
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One thing I felt could be improved is for the audio feed to continue playing in the background even if you close the app. Locking my phone did not pause the audio. I’m thinking about the success of the White Noise podcast and channel on Spotify, and the potential to do something similar on Airchat, even for smaller communities.
Why I would use Airchat again
What I’m most passionate about is Airchat’s ability to prioritize human connection and voice on social media, and do it asynchronously so users can participate in conversations. The quality-over-quantity approach that Airchat’s co-founders are taking bodes well for the overall quality of the app.
Everyone was acting like they were at a dinner party.
Another use for the Airchat app is to make new friends and go on dates.
The content was moderate and thoughtful. There was nothing inappropriate in my feed. Everyone was acting as if they were at a dinner party, so I wonder if the app’s audio format added more civility to the discussion, or if the app’s relatively small, invite-only user base contributed to its atmosphere. I wondered if he had created it.
I closed the Airchat app feeling more connected to the world instead of disconnected from it. This is how I always feel after browsing major social media. The app is easy to use, and the original discussions happening on the app between real people speak to its quality.
I’m thinking about what to say when I use it again.
