The Messaging Makeover: Chat Like You're on the Course

Messaging is the heartbeat of Clubhousen. It's how you coordinate tee times, trash talk after a round, and stay connected with your golf crew. So when we heard that threads were slow, replies were hard to follow, and the experience didn't match the energy of a real foursome, we knew it was time for a change.

We rebuilt the messaging platform from the ground up. This wasn't a quick patch. It was a phased overhaul across several months, and the result is a chat experience that finally feels like you're on the course with your buddies.

Thread loading is faster and more reliable. When you open a conversation, messages appear quickly. No more staring at a spinner while you wait for last week's banter to load. Real-time updates powered by Pusher mean new messages show up as they're sent. You're in the conversation, not lagging behind it.

Replies now scroll you right to the message someone is responding to. No more hunting through a long thread to find the context. Tap a reply, and you're taken straight there.

We added a media gallery so you can browse all the photos and videos shared in a thread. That birdie putt from three weeks ago? It's in there. Thread search lets you find old conversations by keyword. Looking for that time someone promised to buy drinks? Search for it.

Messages appear optimistically — when you hit send, your bubble shows up instantly. No waiting for the server to confirm. It feels responsive, the way chat should feel.

Unread dots and notification badges stay in sync across devices. You always know where you left off.

On iOS, we fixed keyboard behavior so the reply field never gets hidden when the keyboard pops up. A small thing, but it was driving people crazy.

Under the hood, we hardened security and deduplicated code. The platform is more stable and easier to maintain. That means fewer bugs and faster fixes down the road.

The messaging makeover is live. Open a thread and see the difference.