Frequently Asked Questions

EchoWithin is a community platform born from a podcast group. It's a space where you can read and write blog posts, keep private encrypted notes, share surprises with friends, and engage in meaningful conversations.

Yes! The core experience is free, you can read posts, write notes, share content, and message other users at no cost. We also offer an optional Premium plan (KSH 50/month) that unlocks power-user features like note locking, scheduled messages, extended whisper mode, and more. Every new account gets a 1-day free trial of Premium.

Click Register and fill in your details, or sign in instantly with your Google account. No credit card or payment needed.

You can read all blog posts without an account. However, you need to sign in to write posts, leave comments, save favourites, use private notes, or send messages.

Click the + button or go to Create Post. Give your post a title, write your content (supports markdown formatting and images), add tags, and publish. Your post will appear on the blog for everyone to read.

Yes. Open your post, click the Edit button (pencil icon) to modify it, or Delete to remove it permanently. Only you and admins can edit or delete your posts.

Click the bookmark icon on any post. Saved posts appear in your Personal Space under the "Saved Posts" tab.

Hot Posts are ranked by a combination of likes, comments, views, and recency. Posts with sustained, high-quality engagement can stay on the hot list even if they're older.

Yes. All personal notes are encrypted at rest using per-user envelope keys and only accessible by your authenticated session. They are stored securely in database storage.

Notes support full markdown formatting: **bold**, *italic*, # headings, - bullet lists, [links](url), code blocks, and even math equations with LaTeX syntax.

You can move sensitive notes behind a PIN lock for an extra layer of privacy. Go to Profile Settings to set up your PIN, then use the lock icon on any note. Locked notes require your PIN to view and auto-lock after 5 minutes.

Yes! Click the History icon on any note to see all previous versions. You can compare changes side-by-side and restore any earlier version.

Click the Share icon on any note. You can choose read-only or edit access, set an expiry time, and optionally pick a surprise theme (like Birthday or Celebration) with music and visuals. A unique link is generated that you can send to anyone.

Surprise Notes let you turn any note into a special themed experience. Choose a celebration theme (Birthday, Anniversary, etc.), and the recipient sees your message with festive animations, music, and photos — perfect for long-distance surprises!

Only if you grant Edit permission when sharing. With edit access, collaborators can propose changes. Depending on your approval settings, changes are either applied automatically or queued for your review in the Activity tab.

In your Personal Space, shared notes show a green "Shared Link" badge. Click it to see all active links, then press the ✕ button next to any link to revoke it instantly.

EchoWithin features real-time direct messaging. Visit any user's profile and click "Message" to start a chat with typing indicators, read receipts, image/voice attachments, and optional scheduled messages (Premium).

Whisper Mode is an ephemeral, timed conversation mode (15 to 120 minutes) for private or fleeting chats. Messages exist only in temporary memory while the timer is running. When the timer expires, the session and all messages are permanently deleted.

No. Whisper messages are never saved to permanent chat history, never backed up, and cannot be retrieved after the session ends.

Whisper Mode sessions are protected by dynamic, tiled session watermarks bearing both participants' handles and date, discouraging leaks across all devices. On desktop browsers, pressing PrintScreen triggers an instant alert banner to both participants. (Mobile web browsers do not permit websites to detect OS hardware button presses).

Bonds are 1-on-1 dedicated spaces for partners, friends, study mates, family, or accountability partners. Each bond includes shared goals, encrypted journals, daily mood tracking, mutual-reveal questions, streaks, and real-time nudges.

Yes. All shared bond journals and Question of the Day responses are encrypted at rest using per-bond Fernet encryption keys. Only you and your bonded partner can read them.

Every day, your bond gets a question tailored to your bond type. Answers remain hidden until both partners submit their answer (mutual reveal). You can also click "Generate AI Question" or write a custom question for your partner.

Streaks build up as you and your partner interact daily (logging moods, answering questions, writing in the journal, or nudging each other). Premium users get 1 Streak Shield 🛡️ per week per bond to recover a missed day without losing your streak.

Pinging sends a quick "Thinking of you" real-time push notification and screen notification to your partner to remind them to check in.

Build shared daily habits with your bond partner (up to 10 active habits per bond). Habit titles are encrypted at rest. Check off habits daily with real-time sync — habit completions also contribute to your shared daily streak.

Each bond has a shared calendar where you and your partner can create custom events with recurrence support (weekly, monthly, yearly) and RSVP tracking. You can set push notification reminders before events (at event time, 15 min, 1 hour, 1 day, or 2 days before). Events can also be exported via ICS to sync with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook.

Upload and browse shared photos with your partner, organized by category (memories, dates, milestones, travel, pets). Features include grid, polaroid, and timeline view modes, emoji reactions, photo pinning, and a full lightbox viewer. The album also surfaces "On This Day" memories — photos from the same date in previous years.

Track upcoming shared events (birthdays, anniversaries, trips) with live day counters showing "X days left", "Tomorrow!", or "Today!". Countdown titles are encrypted at rest.

Community spaces allow group discussions around shared topics. Members can vote in Polls, upload and access files in the Resource Library, share daily Mood Check-ins, and view community welcome announcements.

Interactive Forms let you create shareable questionnaires with multiple question types — short text, paragraph, single choice, multiple choice, and rating scales (up to 15 questions per form). All responses are encrypted at rest.

Each form gets a unique share link you can send to anyone. You can deactivate or delete forms at any time from your forms dashboard.

Yes. You can view aggregated responses with per-question breakdowns in the response dashboard, and export all responses as a CSV file for external analysis. You'll also receive a push notification when someone submits a response.

EchoWithin offers six real-time multiplayer game modes: Poll, Trivia, Would You Rather, Two Truths and a Lie, Story Chain, and Caption This. Games support up to 30 players per session.

Create a game lobby and share the lobby code with friends. Others join using the code. You can also send game invites directly via DM — a "Join Game" card appears in the chat so your friend can tap to join instantly.

Yes. Game lobbies auto-expire after a configurable duration. Results, leaderboards, and per-question breakdowns remain accessible on the game results page until expiry.

We use HTTPS encryption for all traffic, personal notes and bond journals are encrypted at rest, passwords and PINs are securely hashed, and strict security headers are enforced. We never sell your data.

Yes. Go to Profile Settings and scroll to the bottom. Selecting "Delete Account" immediately removes your profile, notes, messages, and bonds from active databases. Data is held in encrypted backups for a 3-day recovery window before permanent destruction.

On the login page, click "Forgot Password?" and enter your email. You'll receive a reset link to set a new password. If you signed up with Google, simply use "Sign in with Google."

Yes! EchoWithin is available as a Progressive Web App (PWA) and as a standalone Android Note App (APK) available for download in the About section. Both support offline note editing and auto-sync.

Yes! Enable push notifications to receive alerts for message nudges, comment replies, collaboration requests, and bond activities. Manage preferences in Profile Settings.

Yes. In Profile Settings → Notification Preferences, you can toggle notifications on or off for each category independently — Direct Messages, Whisper Alerts, Bond Activity, Anniversaries, Calendar Reminders, Form Responses, Game Invites, and Community activity.

Premium (KSH 50/month) unlocks:

• Unlimited personal notes (vs 50 on Free)
• 100,000 characters per note (vs 20,000)
• Note Locking — lock sensitive notes with a PIN
• Streak Shields 🛡️ — 1 shield/week per bond to protect active streaks
• Extended Whisper Mode — up to 10 sessions/day with 120-min timers
• Higher Bond Goal limits (up to 20 goals per bond vs 5)
• Scheduled Messages — schedule DMs for future delivery
• Extended version history (365 days vs 7 days)

Yes! Every new account gets a 1-day free trial of Premium — no credit card required. You'll get full access to all Premium features during the trial period.

Your account simply switches to the Free plan. You won't lose any data — all your notes, messages, and shared links remain intact. Premium-only features (note locking, scheduled messages, streak shields) become unavailable until you subscribe, but everything else works as normal.

Yes, you can cancel at any time from your Profile Settings. Your Premium access continues until the end of the billing period, and you'll revert to the Free plan after that. No data is ever deleted when downgrading.

No. Your locked notes remain safely locked and encrypted. You just won't be able to lock or unlock new notes until you resubscribe. Your existing locked notes are always accessible with your PIN.