Recording

Echo records from the selected audio-input device and transcribes with the active local speech-to-text model. Download and select that model before starting a recording.

Recording modes

The configurable Recording Hotkey has two activation modes:

• Toggle — press once to start recording and again to stop.
• Push to talk — hold the shortcut while speaking and release it to stop.

Change the mode under Settings → General → Keyboard Shortcuts. The main popup and the voice indicator reflect the same recording state, so stopping from either surface ends the same capture.

Always-on listening

Settings → App → Transcription → Always-on listening starts a background listener for configured voice trigger phrases. It requires a downloaded, selected local speech-to-text model.

Ambient audio stays in the listener's memory and is not written to disk. When a spoken segment matches a configured trigger, Echo transcribes it locally and runs the associated workflow through the normal workflow path. A matched execution can therefore produce the same workflow and History behavior as running that trigger explicitly.

Echo pauses the background listener while a normal recording is active and rebuilds it after that recording finishes. Turn the setting off to stop the listener.

Pause and resume

While the main Echo window is open and recording, use the popup's Pause action or the configured Pause Hotkey. The action changes to Resume while paused. The main popup timer measures wall time from recording start and includes pause intervals. The compact voice indicator timer excludes pause intervals and therefore shows active recording time.

The pause shortcut defaults to the Pause key and can be changed under Settings → General → Keyboard Shortcuts. It is handled only while a recording is active in the open Echo window; it is not a second global recording shortcut.

Shortcut and indicator behavior

The recording shortcut is configurable and can use toggle or push-to-talk activation. Direct-distribution builds support keyboard and supported mouse-button bindings. The Mac App Store build supports keyboard bindings only.

Under Settings → App → General → Indicator style, choose one of the current indicator styles:

• Notch — aligns the compact indicator with the top of the display and uses the hardware notch when present.
• Bubble — the Floating Bubble presentation.
• None — hides the voice indicator while leaving the recording shortcut active.

During recording, the indicator can show the recording state, level activity, pause control, and elapsed time. Processing replaces the recording cue with a progress state; completion exposes the result or copy affordance. The main Popup remains the full surface for reviewing text and applying workflows.