PlotCatalyst Echo

Help & user guide

How to use PlotCatalyst Echo.

A walkthrough of every screen and every feature. Skim the table of contents or read it top to bottom — it's all here.

Contents

Getting started

When you first open Echo, two sample manuscripts are added to your library so you have something to play with. Tap either one and press play to hear how the app works. When you're ready, import your own.

The library

The first tab is your library — every manuscript you've imported, plus their cover art, status badge, and word count. Tap a card to open the manuscript. Tap the small pencil to edit its details (title, author, cover, status, etc.) without going inside.

Long-press a card or tap the trash icon to delete it. Deleting a manuscript removes its notes too; this can't be undone, so be sure.

Importing manuscripts

Tap the + tab in the bottom bar. Pick a .txt or .docx file from your device. Echo parses the chapters automatically using a mix of markdown headings, "Chapter X" patterns, and all-caps lines. You can rename or merge chapters later from inside the manuscript.

If a chapter break gets missed, you can fix it by editing the manuscript directly — there's no separate "structure editor", just edit the chapter title or insert a heading and the app re-reads it.

Reordering manuscripts

From the library, tap Reorder in the top right. Each card grows a drag handle on the left and a pair of up/down arrows on the right. Drag to move freely, or use the arrows for one-slot-at-a-time control. Tap Done to save, or Cancel to discard.

Reading & listening

Open a manuscript. The reading pane shows your prose paragraph by paragraph. Tap any paragraph to jump there. The toolbar gives you:

Choosing a narrator voice

Open Settings → Narrator voice. You'll see your current voice and a "Browse" button. The picker groups voices by source (System, ElevenLabs, Kokoro). Tap any voice to hear a short preview. The selected voice applies everywhere — manuscript view, Car Mode, redundancy walkthrough.

Setting up ElevenLabs

In Settings → ElevenLabs, paste your ElevenLabs API key. Echo never sees the key on a server — it's stored on your device and used directly with the ElevenLabs API. Once it's saved, the ElevenLabs voices appear in the voice picker. You can also choose which ElevenLabs model to use (faster vs. higher quality).

Setting up Kokoro

In Settings → Kokoro, set your base URL (Echo defaults to https://sigil22.cloud) and paste your Kokoro API key. Kokoro voices then appear in the picker alongside the others. Synthesized clips are cached on disk so re-listening to the same passage doesn't re-synthesize.

Bookmarks

Tap the bookmark icon in the manuscript toolbar — or in Car Mode — to save your current spot. Bookmarks live with the manuscript; reopen the book and the most recent bookmark is offered as a one-tap "resume here" option.

Taking notes

Tap the note button in the manuscript toolbar. A sheet opens with two tabs: Type and Voice. Whichever you choose, the note is anchored to the paragraph you were on when you opened the sheet — even if playback has moved on.

Notes show up in the Notes tab. From there you can:

Voice notes & the auto-stop timer

Tap the mic and speak. Echo records, transcribes, and attaches the note to the paragraph you were on. Tap the mic again to stop, or let the timer run out if you've enabled auto-stop.

Configure auto-stop in Settings → Voice Notes:

While a timed recording runs, the mic button is wrapped by a shrinking ring with the remaining seconds in the middle. Tap to stop early; release to let it finish naturally. Either way the note is saved using the same flow.

Car Mode

Open a manuscript and tap the Car icon. The screen switches to a simplified, full-screen layout with very large play/pause, skip, prev/next chapter, mic, and bookmark buttons. Everything is sized for quick taps without looking — but for safety, set up your voice, manuscript, and speed before you drive, and never read the screen while moving.

Tap the mic to dictate a note. Playback pauses; your voice is transcribed; the note is anchored to where you were listening. Resume playback with one tap.

AI paragraph rewrites

Tap the AI button next to any paragraph (or at the toolbar level for the current paragraph in playback). A sheet opens with a prompt box and a few quick presets: tighten, strengthen verbs, cut adverbs, etc. Type your own ask if you'd like.

Echo generates a rewritten draft and shows the original above it with a word-level diff. Choose Accept to apply, Reject to discard, or edit the draft text before accepting. Edits become an overlay on the original paragraph — you can revert any edit at any time, the imported text is never lost.

Bringing your own AI key (Premium)

By default, AI requests run through the included Rork gateway. Premium users can switch to BYO OpenRouter in Settings → AI Model:

  1. Toggle "Use my OpenRouter key" on.
  2. Paste your OpenRouter API key.
  3. Pick a model from the curated list (Claude Opus, Sonnet, GPT models, Gemini, Llama, etc.).

Your key is stored on your device and used directly with OpenRouter — Echo doesn't see it.

Redundancy check

From a manuscript, open Tools → Redundancy. The AI scans your text and produces a list of words and phrases you've leaned on too much. Each one is tagged by severity:

Tap any item to step through every occurrence. The current passage is shown with the word highlighted. You can:

Find & replace

From a manuscript, open Tools → Find & Replace. Type your search term and your replacement. Toggle case sensitivity and whole-word matching for precision. Each match shows surrounding context — replace one at a time or tap "Replace all" once you're confident.

The Search tab runs across every manuscript, chapter, paragraph, and note in your library. Matches are highlighted inline. Tap any result to jump straight to that exact paragraph.

Editing manuscript details

Tap the small pencil icon on any manuscript card in the library. The details editor opens as a full-page form, organized into Identity, Classification, and About sections. You can edit:

Status badges show colored pills on the library card and at the top of the reading screen — amber for Draft, blue for Review, green for Final, violet for Published.

Tap the floating ✨ AI assist button at the bottom of the editor. A sheet lets you tick which fields the AI should fill (title, subtitle, genre, description, cover) and shows the suggestions inline once it's done. Accept each one individually or dismiss what doesn't fit.

Generating a cover with AI

From the cover preview at the top of the details editor, tap and choose Generate with AI. The model uses your title, subtitle, and author to design a cover. If you don't love it, tap Try again. Accept to save the result with the manuscript. You can also upload your own image instead — full-size, no cropping.

Export & download

Tap the Export icon in a manuscript's toolbar — or in the Notes tab header. A sheet slides up with two tabs: Notes and Manuscript.

Notes export

Manuscript export

Each format has two buttons: Copy puts content on the clipboard; Share opens the system share sheet (Files, email, Dropbox, AirDrop, etc.). On the web, Share triggers a direct file download.

Dropbox backup & restore

Open Settings → Backup → Dropbox and tap Connect. You'll be sent to Dropbox to sign in and approve access. Echo stores only the tokens it needs — your password never touches it.

Once connected:

Themes, accents & appearance

In Settings → Appearance, choose Dark or Light mode. In Settings → Accent, pick a color — amber, terracotta, road yellow, forest, ocean, lavender, or rose. Highlighting, buttons, and progress indicators all use your chosen accent.

Premium & free limits

Echo is free to start. The free tier includes:

Premium unlocks unlimited manuscripts, unlimited AI requests, unlimited voice notes, and the ability to bring your own OpenRouter key with the curated model list. Manage your subscription from Settings → Premium.

Troubleshooting

Playback won't start

Make sure your phone isn't on silent (some devices block TTS in silent mode). If you're using ElevenLabs or Kokoro, double-check your API key in Settings — a stale or revoked key will fail silently. As a quick test, switch to the system voice and play again.

Microphone not working

Echo needs microphone permission for voice notes. On iOS, check Settings → PlotCatalyst Echo → Microphone. On Android, check the app's permissions screen. Use the Mic Test row in Settings → Voice Notes to confirm input is being detected.

Import didn't detect my chapters

Echo's chapter detector handles markdown headings, "Chapter X" lines, all-caps headings, and lone numerals. If your manuscript uses a non-standard convention, edit the chapter title inside the manuscript or insert a markdown heading # at the chapter break.

An AI request failed

If you're on the default Rork gateway, the request retries automatically; persistent failures usually mean a network issue. If you've brought your own OpenRouter key, check that the key is valid and that the model you've picked is currently available on OpenRouter.

Dropbox restore is missing files

The restore screen shows every manuscript backup file in your linked folder. If something is missing, it likely wasn't pushed in the most recent "Back up all" run. Re-run a backup from your other device, then refresh the restore screen.

Lost a manuscript I didn't mean to delete

If you have Dropbox backup connected, restore from the latest backup that included it. If not — Echo deletes locally and there's no central server to recover from. Sorry. Connect Dropbox now to avoid this in the future.

Still stuck? Contact support. We read everything.