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Tester guide

Welcome to the EchoNote alpha

Thanks for helping. EchoNote is a private assistant that runs entirely on your Mac and brings up things you'd otherwise forget, like replies you owe, prep for tomorrow's meetings and promises you made.

Before you start: you'll need an Apple Silicon Mac with 16 GB of RAM and about 10 GB free. Download it with the personal link in your invite email (please don't share it).

Two things that look odd but are expected:

  • When you connect Google, it will say "Google hasn't verified this app." Click Advanced, then "Go to EchoNote." We've added your Google accounts so this works.
  • Google will ask you to reconnect about once a week until our verification is done.

First run: EchoNote downloads its AI models and then reads your mail and documents in the background. On a big mailbox this can take a few hours. Echoes start showing up after that.

Please turn on sharing: in Settings, switch on "Feedback sharing" and "How Echoes are doing, anonymously." Neither one ever sends your email, documents, messages or questions. The exact list of what they send is at echonoteapp.ai/privacy. Use thumbs up/down and Send Feedback freely; I read everything.

Erik

1. Install

You'll need:

  • A Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later)
  • 16 GB of RAM or more
  • About 10 GB of free disk space for the models
  • macOS 12 (Monterey) or later
  1. Download EchoNote with the personal link in your invite email. Lost it? Get it sent again.
  2. Open the .dmg file and drag EchoNote into Applications.
  3. Open EchoNote from Applications. If macOS asks whether to open an app downloaded from the internet, click Open. EchoNote is signed and notarized by Apple.
  4. EchoNote appears in your menu bar. Echo walks you through setup in a short conversation: who matters to you, and how chatty it should be.
  5. Connect Google with one of the accounts you gave us. (See the unverified-app screen below.)

EchoNote updates itself, so you won't need to download it again.

2. First run: give it a few hours

First, EchoNote downloads its AI models. They're several GB, so this takes a while on a slow connection. Then it syncs and indexes your mail and documents in the background. On a large mailbox the first sync can take hours. Echoes start appearing after that, so don't worry if it's quiet on day one.

EchoNote may also ask to send you notifications. That's optional.

3. Messages and Full Disk Access (optional)

To read Apple Messages (iMessage and SMS on your Mac), EchoNote needs Full Disk Access. macOS only grants this from System Settings. Skip it if you don't want EchoNote reading your texts.

  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access. (On macOS 12 Monterey: System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Full Disk Access.)
  2. Turn on EchoNote. If it isn't listed, click + and choose EchoNote from Applications.
  3. If macOS asks, quit and reopen EchoNote.

Like everything else, your messages stay on your Mac.

4. "Google hasn't verified this app"

You'll see this when you connect Google. It's expected during the alpha: Google is still verifying EchoNote, and until then only emails on our tester list can get past this screen. We've added yours.

Click Advanced, then Go to EchoNote (unsafe), then allow the read-only permissions.

Google hasn't verified this app

The app is requesting access to sensitive info in your Google Account…

Advanced 1 Back to safety

Continue only if you understand the risks and trust the developer…

Go to EchoNote (unsafe) 2
Simplified sketch. Click Advanced (1), then Go to EchoNote (2).

If Google won't let you continue, check that you're signing in with one of the Google accounts you gave us. If it still fails, email erik@echonoteapp.ai.

5. Reconnecting Google about once a week

While EchoNote is in Google's testing mode, Google ends the sign-in every 7 days. EchoNote will ask you to reconnect. Sign in again with the same account, past the same screen. This stops once Google's verification is done.

6. Please turn on both sharing switches

They're how we learn what's working. Both are off by default. In EchoNote, open Settings and switch on:

"Feedback sharing"

Sends: Thumbs up/down on an answer, plus metadata: model used, retrieval similarity scores, number of documents used, app version, platform. The question text is never sent.

"How Echoes are doing, anonymously"

Sends: Echo type ids, bucket names and whole-number counts, plus a random install ID created at opt-in. Never a name, document, message text or fact.

Neither switch ever sends your email, documents, messages, questions or Echo's answers. The complete list of what leaves your Mac is in the privacy policy.

7. Sending feedback

  • Thumbs up / down on any answer. With Feedback sharing on, the rating reaches us.
  • Send Feedback in the app for anything else: bugs, confusing moments, Echoes you loved or hated. It sends that message, plus an optional contact the user enters, app version and platform.
  • Email erik@echonoteapp.ai for anything longer.

Every message gets read.