, but the team \u2014 led by AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard \u2014 rebuilt the app and relaunched it on iOS and Android yesterday. Currently invite-only, Airchat is already ranked #27 in social networking on Apple\u2019s App Store.<\/span><\/p>\nVisually, Airchat should feel pretty familiar and intuitive, with the ability to follow other users, scroll through a feed of posts, then reply to, like, and share those posts. The difference is that the posts and replies are audio recordings, which the app then transcribes.<\/p>\n
When you open Airchat, messages automatically start playing, and you quickly cycle through them by swiping up and down. If you\u2019re so inclined, you can actually pause the audio and just read text; users can also share photos and video. But audio seems to be what everyone\u2019s focused on, and what Ravikant describes as transforming the dynamic compared to text-based social apps.<\/p>\n
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After joining Airchat this morning, most of the posts I saw were about the app itself, with Ravikant and Norgard answering questions and soliciting feedback.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumans are all meant to get along with other humans, it just requires the natural voice,\u201d Ravikant said. \u201cOnline text-only media has given us this delusion that people can\u2019t get along, but actually everybody can get along.\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time tech startups have bet on voice as the next big social media thing. But Airchat\u2019s asynchronous, threaded posts make for a pretty different experience than the live chat rooms that briefly flourished on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Norgard argued that this approach removes the stage fright barrier to participating, because \u201cyou can take as many passes at composing a message on here as you like, and nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, he said that in conversations with early users, the team found that \u201cmost of the people using AirChat today are very introverted and shy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personally, I haven\u2019t convinced myself to post anything yet. I was more interested in seeing how others were using the app \u2014 plus, I have a love-hate relationship with the sound of my voice.<\/p>\n
Still, there\u2019s something to be said for hearing Ravikant and Norgard explain their vision, rather than just reading the transcriptions, which can miss nuances of enthusiasm, intonation, etc. And I\u2019m especially curious to see how deadpan jokes and shitposting translate (or don\u2019t) into audio.<\/p>\n
I also struggle a bit with the speed. The app defaults to 2x audio playback, which I thought sounded unnatural, particularly if the whole idea is fostering human connection. You can reset the speed by holding down the pause button, but at 1x, I noticed I\u2019d start skimming when listening to longer posts, then I\u2019d usually skip ahead before listening to the full audio. But maybe that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/airchat-elon.jpg?w=300\")
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Meanwhile, Ravikant\u2019s belief in the power of voice to cut down on acrimony doesn\u2019t necessarily eliminate the need for content moderation features. He said the feed is powered by \u201csome complex rules around hiding spam and trolls and people that you or they may not want to hear from,\u201d but as of publication he hadn\u2019t not responded to a follow-up user question about content moderation.<\/p>\n
Asked about monetization \u2014 i.e., when we might start seeing ads, audio or otherwise \u2014\u00a0 Ravikant said there\u2019s \u201cno monetization pressure on the company whatsoever.\u201d (He described himself as \u201cnot the sole investor\u201d but \u201ca big investor\u201d in the company.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI could care less about monetization,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll run this thing on a shoestring if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n