Your first resume, exactly where you left off

You are halfway through an album, a lecture, or a long video essay. Something pulls you away -- a meeting, a phone call, the end of the day. When you come back, you face the usual routine: open the app, hunt through history, scrub back to roughly the right spot.

Echo removes that routine entirely. It quietly logs what you play in the background, and when you want to return to something, one keyboard shortcut brings it straight back -- at the exact moment you left it.

This walkthrough covers your very first resume from start to finish.

What do you need before you start?

Very little. Echo is a native Mac menu-bar app, so once it is installed and running you will see its icon sitting quietly in your menu bar. You do not need an account, and nothing leaves your Mac -- Echo keeps your listening history entirely on-device.

If you have not installed Echo yet, follow the installation guide first, then come back here.

How do you do your first resume?

The steps are short. Walk through them once and you will never need to think about it again.

1. Play something. Open any supported app -- a music player, a podcast app, or your browser -- and play whatever you like. Echo starts logging it immediately in the background. You do not need to press anything or open Echo at all.
2. Leave it partway through. Stop listening whenever you like: close the lid, switch apps, or simply press pause and walk away. Echo remembers your position automatically.
3. Press ⌘⇧E whenever you are ready to return. The Echo panel opens. You will see your recent listening history listed there -- the thing you were just playing will be near the top.
4. Find what you want to return to. You can scroll through your history or type a word from the title to narrow it down quickly. Echo shows you what it is, which app it came from, and when you last played it.
5. Select it. Echo reopens the item in the original app and jumps straight to the moment you left. No scrubbing, no guesswork.

What happens if you cannot remember what you were listening to?

Just type. Echo's search is fast and works on titles, artists, podcast names, and video titles. If you were watching something on YouTube, the video title is logged too, so a word or two from the title is usually enough to find it.

If you play a lot of things and want to keep certain items within easy reach, check out the Shelf. You can save anything to the Shelf from inside Echo so it stays pinned at the top, separate from the flow of your general history.

Does Echo work with browser audio and video?

Yes, with the Echo browser extension installed. Browser playback -- including YouTube, podcast web players, and streaming sites -- is captured just like native apps. The browser extension setup guide covers the quick install. Once it is in place, browser content appears in your history alongside everything else.

What if the item does not reopen at the right spot?

Position accuracy depends on the app. Most native Mac apps and browser players support precise resumption. In a small number of apps, Echo may reopen the item without being able to seek to the exact position -- in that case you will land at the start of the track or video rather than the precise moment. The title and source are still correct, so you will at least be in the right place with minimal scrubbing to do.