A meditation timer for people who already meditate.
Echo is a free iPhone app for unguided practice. Choose how long you want to sit, and a bell opens and closes the session. No voice, no lessons, nothing to follow: just the time you set.
Free · iPhone · Requires iOS 26 or later · English interface
You set the duration by dragging the wheel. It has weight, it clicks under your thumb, and you can set it without really looking. Then: bell, silence, bell.
If you want something underneath the silence, there is rain and there is wind. Both optional, both off unless you turn them on.
Echo is made for people who already meditate and don't need a voice to guide them through their practice.
How a session goes
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Set the length
Drag the wheel to the minutes you want and tap Begin. You don't need an account to start.
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Bell, silence, bell
A bell marks the start. Then nothing happens until your time is up, and a bell marks the end. Rain or wind plays underneath only if you've turned it on.
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See it add up
Each session is recorded. Your profile shows your day streak, total minutes and number of sessions, your average session and your longest streak, with an activity chart by week, month, six months or year.
Who Echo is for, and who it isn't
Echo is for people who already have a practice (the breath, the body, noting, open awareness, a phrase they repeat) and want a timer that stays out of the way.
It also suits people moving on from guided apps who want to keep the bell and lose the voice. Guided or unguided meditation? covers how to make that switch.
It isn't a way to learn meditation. Echo has no guided meditations, courses or instructions. If you're new and want to be taught, start with guided instruction. Starting meditation on your own explains when a plain timer makes sense, and when it doesn't yet.
Questions
Is Echo free?
Yes. Echo is free on the App Store.
Does Echo have guided meditations?
No. There are no guided meditations, courses or voice instructions. Echo is a timer: a bell at the start, a bell at the end, and the time in between is yours.
Does it ring during the session?
No. Echo rings at the start and at the end. There are no interval bells.
Can I sit in complete silence?
Yes, that's the default. Rain and wind are off unless you turn them on.
Do I need an account?
No account is required to begin.
Which iPhones does it work on?
Any iPhone running iOS 26 or later.
Is the app in my language?
Echo's interface is in English.
What happens to my data?
The privacy policy sets out what Echo processes and why. Questions go to hello@thebraincompany.co or the support page.
Guides for practicing without a voice
- Unguided meditation: how to practice without a guide
A simple four-part structure for a silent session, and how to work with a wandering mind.
- How long should you meditate?
What the research says about session length, and a simple way to choose and extend yours.
- Guided or unguided meditation?
What each gives you, how to tell which suits you now, and a four-week plan for moving to silence.
- The meditation bell: why sessions start and end with one
What the opening and closing bells do, how Zen centers and Plum Village use them, and how to choose a sound.
- Silence or rain sounds?
When a steady background helps a session, when silence is better, and how to keep sound from becoming a crutch.
- A daily meditation habit, without the scoreboard
How habits form, what's worth tracking, how to read a streak, and what to do after you miss a day.