Comment by uxcolumbo

Yes, you're right, most people don't care about this.

But what is clubhouse using the mobile number for?

So people can message each other using that number? I doubt it.

Surely it has in app messaging?

And in terms of frictionless, the easiest would have been to generate an automatic ID and let the user choose a username.

Typing in an email address or phone number takes the same amount of effort I would assume.