A look at video chat service Around, launching today, which uses auto-zoom and noise canceling to keep faces and voices in focus, letting users multitask
Josh Constine / TechCrunch : Tweets: @joshconstine , @kantrowitz , @yoda , and @thekenyeung Tweets: Josh Constine / @joshconstine : This is one of the smartest startups I've seen recently. Video chat that doesn't drown out your screen https://techcrunch.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : This new video chat app looks pretty cool. Debuting at the perfect time? https://techcrunch.com/... via @JoshConstine Drew Olanoff / @yoda : this is super super interesting. screen takeover is not productive for video chats outside of meetings https://techcrunch.com/... Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung : Odds this gets gobbled up by Zoom and quickly rolled out when folks are forced to self-isolate? https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Around launches two days after a profile of Zoom's latency-obsessed dominance, right as COVID-19 pushes employees remote and Zoom becomes the default meeting room. Its counter-bet: instead of taking over the screen, shrink faces to a corner with auto-zoom and noise canceling so chat runs alongside actual work.
The timing puts it at the front of a wave — weeks later, Protocol rounds up niche challengers like Shindig, Remotion, and Whereby attacking the giants on specific use cases, while Snap Camera's 10X download surge shows users already want control over how they appear on video.
First-order effects
- Around enters a market where Zoom has just become the pandemic default, differentiating on the exact complaint Drew Olanoff flags — full-screen takeover kills productivity outside formal meetings.
- Remote workers gain a video tool designed for co-working alongside other apps, not replacing them.
Second-order effects
- Zoom and other incumbents face pressure to treat screen real estate as a design variable rather than maximizing face size, since Around's pitch targets the always-on background presence they ignore.
- Accessory layers like Snap Camera prove demand for customizable video presence, giving startups like Around a distribution path through the very platforms they complement.
Third-order effects
- If the niche-challenger pattern holds, video chat fragments from a single dominant meeting platform into specialized formats — structured meetings, spontaneous rooms like Clubhouse, and ambient background presence — rather than one winner-takes-all product.
The trend: Video chat is splitting from one dominant meeting platform into purpose-built formats — meetings, social rooms, and ambient co-presence — as remote work makes screen time scarce.