Join the Echo Beta

Welcome — and thank you. Echo is built by one person around a full-time mail route, which means every tester genuinely moves the project. This page covers how the beta works, how to send feedback that actually helps, and a set of structured test plans if you want to hunt bugs on purpose.

The short version: use Echo like you really listen — commute, chores, workouts, bedtime — and tell us the moment something feels wrong.

1. Joining the beta

1. Install TestFlight (Apple's free beta app) from the App Store.
2. Open your Echo invite link on the device — it opens in TestFlight.
3. Tap Accept, then Install. Echo appears on your home screen like any app, with a small orange dot in TestFlight marking it as a beta.

Don't have an invite yet? Request access via GitHub Issues or email [email protected] — include the device you'd test on.

Requirements: a recent iPhone (the on-device alignment uses the Neural Engine, so newer hardware aligns faster). Apple Watch and Mac are optional but very welcome test surfaces — the watch app installs automatically from the iPhone's Watch app.

Updates: TestFlight notifies you when a new build lands. Each build's What to Test notes tell you where to aim. Beta builds expire after 90 days; updating resets the clock.

Your data: beta builds share data with release builds going forward — but it's a beta, so keep your source audiobook files backed up (you should anyway; Echo never modifies them).

2. Sending feedback that helps

The fastest way: TestFlight screenshots

See something wrong? Take a screenshot right then. Tap the screenshot preview → Share → Send Beta Feedback. Your note arrives with the build number, device model, and iOS version attached automatically — that's half the diagnosis done.

Crashes

If Echo crashes, TestFlight will offer to send the crash report with a comment box. Please add one sentence about what you were doing — a crash log with "happened when I tapped Auto-Align on a 40-hour book" is worth ten without.

Trackable bugs & feature ideas

For anything you want tracked (or to check whether it's known): github.com/dfakkeldy/Echo/issues. The developer reads every one.

Reporting alignment problems (special instructions)

Alignment bugs are the most valuable reports and need the most context. Include:

• Book title + narrator (different narrations of the same book behave differently)
• Where the ePub/PDF came from — store, edition, year if you know it (editions drift; that's often the whole bug)
• What the audio is — single M4B, folder of MP3s, LibriVox, Libation export…
• Where it went wrong — chapter and roughly what the text said vs. what was playing
• Whether Auto-Align had run, and whether you'd placed any manual anchors

"Book X aligned perfectly except chapter 7 drifted ~30s after an ad-libbed intro; ePub is the 2nd edition from Kobo; audio is a Libation M4B" — that's a perfect report.

3. Structured test plans

Pick whichever matches your life. Each plan is 10–20 minutes of intentional testing.

Plan A — The Commute Run (Smart Rewind & interruptions)

1. Start a book, then live your interrupted life: pause for seconds, for minutes, for an hour.
2. Each resume: did Smart Rewind back up a sensible amount? Did it ever dump you somewhere confusing?
3. Mid-sentence, unplug your headphones / disconnect Bluetooth. Echo should pause — never blast the speaker.
4. Take a phone call. After it ends, does Echo behave correctly (resume if it was playing, stay paused if you'd paused)?

Plan B — The Alignment Gauntlet (EPUB + auto-align)

1. Put an ePub in the audiobook's folder; confirm Echo imports it automatically.
2. Run Auto-Align Chapters and watch the progress view (plug in for long books — the first run also downloads the ~40 MB speech model).
3. Spot-check five chapters: tap a paragraph, does audio land on those words (or close)?
4. Find the worst spot and fix it: long-press → Align to Now. Does the surrounding text snap into place?
5. Search a distinctive phrase; tap the result. Text and audio should jump together.

Plan C — The Study Session (bookmarks, flashcards, review)

1. While listening, make three bookmarks: one plain, one with a voice memo, one with a photo.
2. Re-listen across them: does the voice memo play inline? Does the player artwork switch to your photo and back?
3. Promote a bookmark to a flashcard (front as a question). Attach the audio snippet.
4. Tomorrow, when the review notification arrives: do your Daily Review on the phone — then try a session on the watch, hands-free.
5. Grade honestly and check the stats module updates (due / reviewed today / total).

Plan D — The Library Stress Test (formats & playlist)

1. Load your messiest book: a multi-file M4B, a 100-file LibriVox folder, weird filenames.
2. Check the chapter list: grouping sensible? Sections under chapters where expected?
3. Drag-reorder a few tracks; dim one (e.g., a disclaimer track) and confirm playback skips it.
4. iCloud users: try a book without "Keep Downloaded" on cellular — how does Echo cope? Then set Keep Downloaded and compare.

Plan E — The Wrist-Only Day (watch remote)

1. From the phone, design your button layout (try filling multiple pages; leave one page empty — it should hide).
2. Drive a full listening session from the watch only: play, skip, sections, loop, speed, sleep timer, a bookmark with a voice memo.
3. Set the Digital Crown to scrubbing; check the deadzone (brushing the crown shouldn't jump position).
4. Leave the watch off-wrist overnight; next morning, raise it: right book, right position, no phantom commands?
5. Run a Pomodoro: set 25 minutes, lower your wrist, confirm the alarm is unmissable.

Plan F — The Accessibility Pass

1. Crank Dynamic Type to a large size: anything truncated, overlapping, or unreadable?
2. Switch the reader font to OpenDyslexic, then Lexend; adjust size and line spacing.
3. If you use VoiceOver: a pass over the player and reader — every control labeled and operable?
4. Enable Reduce Motion: anything still animating that shouldn't?

4. Known limitations (current beta)

Honest list — these are known, so you don't need to report them (though opinions on them are welcome):

• First auto-align is heavy. Model download (~40 MB) + Neural Engine work; phones run warm on long books. Plug in.
• CarPlay is minimal — browse + transport only, richer templates on the roadmap.
• iCloud sync covers alignment anchors only so far; bookmarks/flashcards/position sync across devices is roadmap work.
• Edition drift is real. Auto-align gets you close; some books need two or three manual anchors. That's expected, not a bug — but tell us about books that need lots.
• Watch review sessions can briefly show stale state if the phone app was killed mid-review; relaunching the phone app reconverges.

5. Privacy during the beta

Echo's promise is unchanged in beta: no analytics, no tracking, no servers, alignment fully on-device.

One thing TestFlight itself adds: Apple's beta system shares crash reports and the feedback you choose to send with the developer, along with device/OS/build info. That's TestFlight's standard mechanism (it's how your reports reach us), not telemetry inside Echo. The full policy is on our privacy page.

Thank you for testing. Every report makes the player better for the next interrupted listener. — Dan

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