Frequently asked questions

Hear From You is a digital cassette tape archive. You can make a cassette for someone, with a recipient name, a title, a written message, a song, and a visual design, publish it, and share it through a link. Anyone can also browse and play the cassettes other people have published.

Anyone aged 18 or older who has something to say to someone: a message you never sent, a thank-you, an apology, a memory, a love letter, or a mixtape in the form of a short note and a song. You can also simply browse and listen without ever making a cassette.

No. There are no accounts, logins, or sign-ups. You do not need to give us your name or email to browse or publish. The trade-off is that we cannot verify who wrote a cassette, and we cannot let you edit or delete one after it is published.

Yes, using the Service is free. We may introduce advertising in the future to help keep it free, and we will update our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before that happens.

Read the Terms of Use

You must be at least 18 years old. The Service is not directed to anyone under 18.

Yes, the site is a web app that you open in your browser, so there is nothing to install. Playback of music may depend on your device, browser, connection, and settings.

Go to the Submit page. Choose who the cassette is for, give it a title, write your message, pick a song, and choose a design. When you are happy with it, publish it. You will get a link that you can share with the recipient or anyone else.

Go to Submit

Each cassette has a recipient name, a title, a written message, a song, and a visual design, such as an edition and cassette model. These are the pieces other visitors will see and hear when they open it.

Yes. Drafts are saved on your own device, in your browser, so you can come back to a cassette you have not published yet. We do not receive drafts unless and until you choose to publish them.

No. Because drafts live only in your browser, we never have a copy and cannot recover them. If you are writing something that matters to you, consider keeping a copy of the text somewhere safe before you publish.

Yes, and we recommend it. A first name, nickname, or initial is usually enough for the right person to recognize themselves, and it is kinder to their privacy than a full name.

Many cassettes are exactly that: unsent messages, goodbyes, and things left unsaid. Please keep in mind that anything you publish is public and permanent, and avoid including details that could identify or locate the person.

When you submit a cassette or a report, we use Cloudflare Turnstile to tell real visitors apart from automated bots. This helps protect the site from spam and abuse.

Before publication, the message, title, and recipient name are checked by automated moderation tools for content that may break our rules, such as harassment, hate, or sexual content. Automated review makes mistakes. Try rewording anything that could be misread, and if you think it was a mistake, email us.

See what is not allowed

To stop spam and abuse, we apply rate limits based on IP address. If you hit a limit, wait a while and try again.

No. Published cassettes are permanent. Users cannot delete or edit them. Because there are no accounts, we have no reliable way to confirm who made a cassette. Please read your message carefully before you publish.

Read about permanent cassettes

Anyone with the link, anyone browsing or searching the archive, and search engines that index public pages. Anyone who sees it may copy or share it, and copies kept by others, including search engines, may remain even if the cassette is later hidden or removed.

Hear From You is an archive. The idea is that a message, once left, stays. Permanence also keeps shared links working for the people you sent them to.

Do not include phone numbers, addresses, social media handles, government ID numbers, financial details, health information, or other private contact details. Avoid full names together with identifying details such as a school or workplace. If you would not want it public forever, do not publish it.

We cannot promise to remove a cassette on request. If it exposes your private information or threatens your safety, email us with the cassette link and we will look into it. We consider serious requests individually.

How removal requests work

You do. By publishing, you give us a license to host, display, and promote it on the Service, including on our website and social media. If you do not want your cassette shared or promoted in these ways, please do not publish it.

Read the license terms

Yes. The license you grant when you publish allows us to display cassettes on our website, social media, and marketing materials. We recommend leaving out anything you would not want shown publicly.

Each published cassette has its own link. Copy it and send it to the recipient, or post it anywhere you like. Anyone with the link can open it, with no login required.

Use the search on the Browse page to look for a name or a title. You can also scroll through the archive and open any cassette you like. If you have a link, open it directly.

Go to Browse

Yes. You can search by recipient name to find tapes addressed to someone with that name. Keep in mind that many people share the same name, so a tape you find may not be meant for you.

Open the link in your browser and press play. Playback uses a third-party music provider, so you may need to allow audio or video playback if your browser asks.

Recurring Names is a page that shows names that have come up in the cassettes you have created, built from a record kept only in your own browser. It is personal to you and is not tied to an account.

Open Recurring Names

My Archive is your personal collection of the cassettes you have created on this device. It is stored in your browser's IndexedDB and is never sent to our servers.

Open My Archive

My Archive and Recurring Names are stored in the browser you used when you made the cassettes. They do not follow you to another browser or device, and they are erased if you clear your browser data or use private browsing. Your published cassettes are still online and can be opened through their links.

They are part of the cassette's visual design: edition names, years, and cassette models give each tape its own look, in the spirit of a real cassette label. They are decorative.

Songs are chosen through third-party services. Tracks found with the Apple iTunes Search API are provided by Apple, and tracks played from YouTube are played through YouTube's official embedded player. Hear From You does not host, download, store, or modify any music or video files.

Read about music and third parties

The provider may have removed the song, restricted it in certain regions, or changed how it can be played. We do not host the music, so we cannot restore it. The message, title, and design of the cassette stay as they were published.

Check that your device is not muted and that your connection is working. Try pressing play again, reload the page, or try a different browser. Ad blockers, privacy extensions, and autoplay restrictions can sometimes interfere with embedded players. Some songs are also unavailable in certain countries.

Not at the moment. Music is chosen from the supported third-party services.

No. We claim no ownership of any third-party music or video content. It belongs to its owners and is subject to the terms of the provider.

We do not ask for your name, email, phone number, or payment details to use the Service. We store the cassettes you publish. We also receive technical data through tools like Google Analytics and Cloudflare (for example pages visited, approximate location, browser and device type, and IP address), and we use IP addresses for rate limiting.

What we collect

Your drafts and your Recurring Names and My Archive record are kept only in your browser. We never receive them, and we cannot see, restore, or move them for you.

Data stored in your browser

No. We do not sell personal information.

We do not use cookies to create accounts or log you in. Cloudflare (security and bot protection) and Google Analytics (usage statistics) may use cookies or similar technologies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.

Cookies and similar technologies

Yes. Google provides an opt-out browser add-on, and you can also block cookies in your browser. Blocking Cloudflare's security cookies may prevent you from submitting cassettes or reports.

We rely on services including Cloudflare, Google Analytics, Apple iTunes Search, YouTube, Meta and Gemini (for content moderation), and Redis (for rate limiting). The Privacy Policy explains what each does and links to their own policies.

Third-party services

The message, title, and recipient name of a cassette are sent to automated moderation services to check for policy violations. We do not send anything else for that purpose, and we do not store the results of the review.

Content moderation

We use IP addresses for short-lived rate limiting. Cloudflare and Google Analytics also process IP addresses as part of providing their services.

Email [email protected]. Include the link to the cassette if your request is about a specific cassette, and tell us what you are asking for. Because there are no accounts, we may need more details to help.

How to make a request

Illegal content, hate speech, violence, explicit adult content, harassment, bullying, threats, defamation, content that encourages self-harm, sexual or exploitative content, doxxing or exposing someone's private information, impersonation, infringement of others' rights, scams and malware, and spam or advertising.

Full list in the Terms

Use the report button on the cassette. You will be asked to complete a quick verification to help us prevent abuse.

We record the report. If a cassette receives more than three reports, it is automatically hidden from the platform. We may then review it and restore it, keep it hidden, or remove it.

No. Automatic hiding is a safety measure, not a finding that a rule was broken. Reviewing a hidden cassette is a separate step.

Email [email protected] right away with the cassette link and a short explanation. If anyone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

Automated moderation is not perfect. Email us with the cassette link and explain why you think it was a mistake. We may review it, although we are not required to change the outcome.

Many people share the same name, so a cassette using your name is not necessarily about you. If it does expose your private information or causes you harm, report it or email us with the link and we will consider it.

If a cassette infringes your copyright, email us with the cassette link, a description of the problem, your contact details, and information about the work. Complaints about the music or video itself usually belong with the provider that hosts it, such as Apple or YouTube.

Copyright and other complaints

Thank you for trusting a cassette with it. A cassette is not a substitute for support, so please also reach out to someone you trust or to local mental health or emergency services. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number.

Not currently. We are planning to add ads in the future, likely through Google AdSense, to help keep the Service free. Before ads go live we will update the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to explain which partners are involved, what they collect, and how you can opt out.

Advertising in the Privacy Policy

If ads are introduced, they may appear alongside cassettes. Cassettes you published earlier remain subject to the Terms as updated, and you do not receive compensation for ads shown near them.

We cannot promise future features. For now, the site is intentionally account-free and published cassettes are permanent. Any change would be reflected in the Terms and Privacy Policy.

We post updated versions of the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy on their pages and change the Last updated date. Material changes, such as starting to show ads, are updated before they take effect.

Reload the page and check your connection. If it keeps happening, try another browser, disable extensions that block scripts, and try again later. If the problem continues, email us with your browser, device, and what you saw.

Check that the whole link was copied, including the end. The cassette may also have been hidden after reports. If you think a cassette is missing by mistake, email us with the link.

Make sure verification can load: some browser extensions and strict privacy settings block Cloudflare Turnstile, which is needed to submit. Try disabling extensions for this site, reloading, or using another browser. Also check that you have not hit a rate limit.

Delete drafts or records inside the site where that option is offered, or clear site data for www.hearfromyou.xyz in your browser settings. Clearing site data removes drafts and My Archive permanently.

Current versions of major browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge should work. Because drafts and My Archive rely on your browser's storage, very old browsers or strict private modes may not keep them.

Email [email protected]. You can also find us on TikTok and Instagram at @hearfromyou.xyz. Email is the best option for privacy requests, complaints, and reports about specific cassettes.

The link to the cassette (if it is about one), what you are asking for or what the problem is, and your contact details if you want a reply. Please do not send extra sensitive documents unless we ask.

We would love to hear it. Email us or message us on social media. If you send feedback, we may use it to improve the Service without owing you anything. Please do not include confidential information in it.

The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy explain everything in detail.

Terms of Use