New social media app, Air chatwhich has attracted high-profile users and investors BY OpenAI Sam Altman for VC associates Jeff Fagnanit's currently a quiet departure from the usual cacophony of chatter on social media — even as it puts users' voices front and center.
Airchat was first launched in mid-2023 and is still invite-only. Bloomberg reported This week invites have been circulating a lot in Silicon Valley lately after the app relaunched this month. More than 30,000 of Airchat's 45,000 downloads occurred this month, according to the release.
entrepreneur secured an invite and tested the app to see if it was worth the hype.
If your eyes glaze over after long social media posts and you find yourself overstimulated by endless videos, Airchat is a happy medium.
Anyone who has scrolled through Facebook or Threads can quickly understand Airchat. The app combines the standard news feed format with audio annotations directly from users. Users speak in the app, they can't type posts, and as their followers scroll through their feeds, they hear the voice in addition to seeing the AI-generated transcript.
If a user wants to comment on a post, they also record an audio of their thoughts. The entire app is an ongoing series of conversations.
Airchat feed of audio recordings and AI-transcribed posts. Credit: Entrepreneur
The concept of Airchat is to allow users to tune into conversations it happens right nownot to achieve what they have lost.
“I want a house party in my pocket,” said Airchat co-founder Naval Ravikant Bloomberg. “I want to be able to pull out this phone and talk to someone interesting, cute, and witty whenever I want.”
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What Works
When I scrolled through my Airchat feed, I found that the presence of other people's voices caught my attention, but in a way that was less unexpected than a TikTok video or YouTube Short. I was also more present than if I had been scrolling through heavy Facebook posts.
That said, there is an option to upload videos that I didn't see anyone using. It was an audio-centric platform.
I could either press the play button in the lower right corner of the screen and have the news feed play all the audio clips of the people I followed, or manually scroll and find the clips that interested me the most.
If your eyes glaze over after long social media posts and you find yourself overstimulated by endless videos, Airchat is a happy medium.
Influencers are not the focus of the app, with Ravikant saying the app is more of a social messenger like WhatsApp or WeChat than an influencer platform.
The two founders, Ravikant and former Tinder executive Brian Norgard, were both active on Airchat.
Posted by Ravikant. Credit: Entrepreneur
Post by Norgard. Credit: Entrepreneur
My overall impression was that the app was very personal and thoughtful in a way that mainstream social media apps are not at the moment.
When comparing Airchat to Twitter, now X, Ravikant summed it up perfectly in an Airchat audio. He said Twitter used to be his favorite social media until he saw hundreds of people rewording what he said in different ways.
“Or I'd see people copying the same content a year later or two years later,” he continued. “And you kind of want to say, really? Let's talk in person. Get in the ring… And that's what I think this app does. It really allows people who are incredibly smart to really shine. . Or people who are overly empathetic.”
Hearing Ravikant speak added a human element to the app. Like social media fight botsit's important to have that touch of authenticity with our tone.
Unlike the competing social audio app Club, Airchat is not about having live chats, but about ongoing conversations that take place over time with no pressure to respond immediately. Clubhouse's mission of friends over followers seems to be what Airchat also adheres to, but the user experience for the two apps is different.
What the Enhancement can use
Since synthetic voices are it is already being used in scamscan undermine the authenticity of Airchat if users use it.
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One thing I noticed that could be improved was that even when I exited the app, the audio feed kept playing in the background. Locking my phone didn't stop the audio either. I'm thinking about the success of podcasts and white noise channels on Spotify and the possibilities on Airchat for the same, even in a smaller community.
Why I will use Airchat again
I'm very enthusiastic that Airchat is prioritizing the human connection and voice in social media – and doing so asynchronously, which allows users to jump into conversations. The quality over quantity approach 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 possible use of the Airchat app could be making new friends or even dating.
The content was also well moderated and thoughtful; there was nothing inappropriate about my food. Everyone was acting like they were at a dinner party, which made me wonder if it was the app's audio format that added a nice layer of civility to the discussions, or if the app's relatively small, invite-only user base, it created the atmosphere.
I closed the Airchat app feeling more in touch with the world, not disconnected from it, the way I usually feel after browsing major social media. The app is easy to use and the original discussions happening on the app between real people spoke to its quality.
I'm thinking of what to say when I use it again.