It stays unnoticeable in the background until needed.

A common critique of earlier versions was that audio was recorded in mono , which could be a limitation for musicians capturing system glitches or high-fidelity audio.

Some reviewers noted that the dialog box after saving audio can only be dismissed by clicking the menu bar icon again, rather than using standard keys like Escape. Backtrack - Record the Past - Ratings & Reviews - App Store

Features include the ability to pause and resume recording for privacy or swap input devices (e.g., from an external mic to system audio).

While newer versions are available on the Mac App Store and through Setapp , some users prefer older versions like 1.5 or 1.6 due to their lighter footprint and lack of required cloud accounts.

Users can set how far back the app should "remember" audio, usually ranging from 1 to 5 hours.

The app constantly records your Mac's audio locally, overwriting the oldest data once it hits a set limit—originally 60 minutes by default, but expandable up to 5 hours .