EchoIt — download & user guide
A local-first, end-to-end encrypted messenger. Messages go from your device to
your friend's, sealed so only they can read them, and no server holds your
history. It is a free beta, for Windows and Android.
This repository hosts the download page and the release builds. The application
source lives separately.
Download
Latest release: v0.7.1 — beta
| Platform | File |
|---|
| Windows | EchoIt_0.7.1_x64-setup.exe — or update from Settings in the app |
| Android | EchoIt_0.7.1_aarch64.apk — 64-bit ARM, which is nearly every phone made since about 2018 |
On Android you will need to allow installing from an unknown source. The build
is signed, so later updates install over the top and keep your messages.
What is EchoIt?
A messenger for ordinary people who would rather their conversations were not
sitting on someone else's server. There is no account, no phone number and no
email: your identity is created on your device and backed by a twelve-word
recovery phrase that only you hold.
Messages travel directly between the two devices in a conversation, encrypted
end to end. No server stores your message history.
Connecting with someone
Share your connection ticket from the Profile tab. When your friend adds it,
you get a request showing the name they chose — tap Accept and you are
connected. If you both add each other's tickets, that works too.
Messages
Replies, reactions, read receipts and typing indicators, one-to-one. On the
desktop app, hover over a message for Reply and React.
Long-press a message (right-click it on the desktop) to choose it: a bar takes
the place of the chat's header with Reply, Forward, Copy,
Select all and Delete. Delete removes messages from your device only —
your friend keeps their copy.
The app icon shows how many chats have something unread: on the Windows
taskbar, and on Android as a number or a dot, depending on the phone.
When messages arrive: messages arrive while EchoIt is in use on your phone;
otherwise the next time both phones are. A message waits on your device —
marked as not yet delivered — until then. Nothing is lost along the way.
Files of any size
Photos, videos and documents go directly from your device to your friend's,
with no size limit. What to expect:
- On a computer, a file is sent from where it is — nothing is copied, so
even a large video starts straight away. If you move, change or delete it
before your friend has it, EchoIt tells you both, and you can send it again.
- On a phone, a file is copied into EchoIt first; the bar at the top shows
how far along it is, and Cancel stops it. You need about the file's size
free.
- Your friend sees a preview straight away — a blurred picture of a photo
or video — and downloads it by tapping it. Keep EchoIt open on your
device until they have it — your device is the only place it comes from.
- Progress shows on the file itself. Tap it to stop a download, and again
to carry on from where it stopped.
- If a download stalls (your device went to sleep, say), it says so, pauses,
and carries on from where it stopped when you are both back.
- Once they have it, EchoIt lets go of the file on your device. Your
original file is untouched. If they never download it, EchoIt lets go after
15 days.
- Videos play straight away, however large. Saving a video to your device
moves it out of EchoIt rather than keeping it twice; pictures stay in the
chat.
- No sound? Some videos carry their sound in a format EchoIt's player
can't play (often films with 5.1 sound). EchoIt notices and offers Open in
another player — VLC, PotPlayer, or whatever your device uses for videos.
Blocking
Blocking is local to your device. A blocked peer's messages are discarded on
arrival, and they are never told. Blocking does not undo anything they sent you
before.
Removing a contact
From a contact's ⋮ menu, or from their profile. They are removed from your
device only, and they are not told. You can also delete your chat with them —
from your device; theirs stays. To talk again, add them with their ticket.
What this build does not do yet
Stated plainly, because finding out later is worse:
- Nothing arrives while a phone is locked or asleep. Android stops EchoIt
then; messages and files wait until both phones are in use.
- What you write is encrypted on your device, but not who you talked to or
when. Keep a lock screen or password on.
- One-to-one only — no groups yet.
- Sending files from a phone has had less testing than from a computer. If
something misbehaves, please say so.
- Someone you removed may still see you as online while you both have
EchoIt open.
- Update before mid-November 2026. The connection helper that EchoIt 0.7.0
and earlier rely on is switched off then; after that they cannot connect to
anyone on a different network. 0.7.1 moves to a new helper by itself.
About the connection
Phones move around and have no fixed address, so EchoIt uses a connection
helper to introduce your device to your friend's. Usually your messages then
go straight between the two devices. If they can't reach each other directly,
the helper passes them along still sealed — it cannot open them, and it stores
nothing.
Three services are involved, and this is everything they can see:
| Service | What it can see | Who runs it |
|---|
| Connection helper | Your device's ID, its internet address, when it is online, and how much passes through it | Number 0 — until mid-November 2026, a helper we run ourselves |
| Address directory | Your device's ID and which helper it uses, and your internet address when it publishes | Number 0 |
| Update check | Nothing about you — like any website, your internet address and roughly when the app was opened | GitHub (you can turn it off in Settings) |
None of them can read your messages. The Privacy Policy
has the details, including what each may keep.
Terms and privacy
EchoIt asks you to agree to its terms the first time you open it. Both documents
are short and written in plain words:
- Privacy Policy — what stays on your device, what leaves it, and who can see it
- Terms of Use — what you can expect from a free beta, and what you agree to
The MIT licence in this repository covers the website's own code only. The
EchoIt app is not open source.
Your recovery phrase
Write down the twelve words. They are the only way to recover your identity on a
new device, and they restore who you are, not your message history. Nobody
holds a copy of either — not us, not anyone. If you lose both the device and the
phrase, that identity is gone.
Reporting problems and talking to the developer
EchoIt is built by one person. Message me on
Telegram (@quazarLover) or
Discord, follow
@echo.1t on Instagram, or email
[email protected]. You can also open an issue in this repository.
Please include what you did, what you expected, and what happened. If a message
or file did not arrive, say whether both apps were open at the time — that
single detail is the most useful thing in a report.
