Stuck or have a question? Email [email protected] with your device model, OS version, app version (Settings → About), and a short description of what happened. We usually reply within 48 hours.
01 Common questions
Do I need an account?
No. echoft has no sign-up, no login, and no profile. Everything you save (favorites, history) lives only on your device.
Where does the audio come from?
Every recording streams directly from the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library. echoft is an independent app and is not affiliated with the Internet Archive.
Is echoft really free?
The app is supported by the studio behind it. There are no ads, no subscriptions, and no in-app purchases.
Can I listen offline?
echoft streams from the Internet Archive, so an active internet connection is required to play audio. Your favorites and history are stored locally and remain visible offline, but tapping play needs network.
Why don't I see a search result I expected?
echoft only includes items whose mediatype on archive.org is audio. Video, text, and image items are filtered out. Some items are also restricted by the Internet Archive itself and may not appear or stream.
02 Playback issues
Audio won't start or keeps buffering
- Check your internet connection — streaming pulls directly from archive.org.
- archive.org occasionally rate-limits or briefly takes individual items offline. Try a different item; if others play, it's a temporary archive.org issue.
- Force-quit and reopen the app to reset the audio session.
Playback stops when the screen locks
echoft supports background audio. If a track stops when you lock the screen:
- iOS: check Settings → echoft hasn't had background activity disabled, and that Low Power Mode isn't on.
- Android: ensure battery optimization isn't aggressively killing the app (Settings → Apps → echoft → Battery → Unrestricted).
Lock-screen / Control Center controls don't appear
Start playback and wait a few seconds — the now-playing controls register with the system after the first audio chunk loads. If they still don't appear, reopen the app and try again.
03 Favorites & history
Where are my favorites stored?
In a local database on your device. They are not backed up to any echoft server, because there is no server. Uninstalling the app clears them.
How do I clear my listening history?
Open Library → History, then tap the clear button in the top-right. This empties the history immediately; favorites are untouched.
Can I sync favorites between two devices?
Not currently. There is no account system, so each device keeps its own list.
04 Reporting a bug
If something is broken, an email with the details below makes it much faster to diagnose:
- Device — e.g. iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Air 11" M3, Pixel 8.
- OS version — e.g. iOS 17.4, Android 14.
- App version — shown in Settings → About.
- What you did — a quick list of steps that triggered the issue.
- What you expected vs what happened.
- Item identifier if a specific recording misbehaved (visible in the URL on archive.org).
05 Content questions
An item has incorrect metadata or a missing cover
Metadata, cover art, and file listings come from the Internet Archive and cannot be edited from echoft. To correct an item, you can request changes via the Internet Archive's own item page on archive.org.
I'm a rights holder and want content removed
echoft does not host any audio or metadata of its own. All content originates from the Internet Archive. Takedown or rights inquiries should be directed to the Internet Archive's rights team. If a specific item has been removed by them, it will stop streaming in echoft automatically.
06 Privacy
Full details are on the privacy page. The short version: no accounts, no analytics, no tracking, no ads. The app has no backend of its own.
07 Contact
For anything not covered above — questions, bug reports, feature ideas, or just to say hi:
Replies usually arrive within 48 hours, often sooner. echoft is built by a small independent studio — there's a human on the other end.