Welcome To My Houseparty, Zoom’s New Competition

Zoom might just have some competition in Houseparty, the video conferencing app that’s owned by Epic Games, makers of Fortnite. Due to a crushing need for humans in quarantine to connect, Houseparty is on its way to the top of the charts. Over the past month, Houseparty, which has been around since 2016, has seen 50 million sign ups, which is 70 times more than normal, reports TechCrunch. It’s also seen a major spike in mobile downloads on both the iOS app store and Google Play, accounting for 17.2 million new installs, according to data from Apptopia.

For the past month at least, Zoom has consistently topped the app store download charts, as businesses began to acclimate to working from home and holding digital meetings with the video conferencing app. Due to its ease of use and accessibility, the video conferencing tool became popular for a range of virtual social gatherings. Now, Houseparty is creeping up and is currently the second most downloaded free app in the United States. A month ago it was barely on the charts, with an overall store rank of 198. A week ago it was ranked sixth most downloaded app, after other connecting software like Google Hangouts. 

So what makes Houseparty so special? First off, there doesn’t appear to be a time limit. Zoom’s free membership stops calls after 40 minutes. The average time in conversation per Houseparty user has been anywhere from 60 to 80 minutes. However, you can only have eight people in a single video chat, versus 100 for a Zoom chat, which only really matters if you were so inclined to have a brief virtual rager.  

“Houseparty has a big base around teenagers and always has,” Houseparty co-founder Ben Rubin told The Financial Times. “[But] with everything that’s going on, a bunch of adults now have the time and need for new connections.” 

The Gen Z base makes sense when one considers the brand’s marketing language. For example, one of Houseparty’s “house rules” involves ghosting etiquette: “Your friend will no longer receive your ‘in the house’ notification when you Ghost. Boy, bye.” Younger demographics also probably like the ability to sync the app with Snapchat, so they can use their Bitmoji as their Houseparty profile picture, as well. But more than that, Gen Z loves a brand that stands for something, and this company promises to never monetize through user data and advertising, portraying itself as a socially responsible alternative to Facebook.

As we all try to find meaningful and fun ways to connect, this app has definitely expanded beyond Gen Z. The format has a touch of whimsy, allowing friends to jump into their friends’ chat rooms (unless those in the room have specifically chosen to ‘lock’ the room), and users get a notification when their friends sign on. You can add friends through your phone’s contact list or by syncing with other social media accounts.

The pièce de résistance, however, has got to be the opportunity to share experiences. Users can screen share and watch shows or movies together, and they can even play a series of games together, such as Heads Up!, Chips and Guac, Quick Draw! and a range of trivia games.

But is it safe? Is anything that’s digital safe anymore? There is certainly potential for privacy risks and cyber crime, but it’s not yet on the scale of Zoom, which has gotten a lot of bad press lately for a series of Zoombombings, hackers, and even an Internal Senate memo warning that the tool poses a high risk to privacy and security.

If you’re looking for a way to connect with friends, rather than host a funeral, a Seder, or a business meeting, then Houseparty is probably the safer, and more fun, way to go.