Questions & Feature Requests

[Jenix-Park]

Hello,

First of all, I just want to say how much I appreciate your amazing work! As someone who uses both Windows and Mac, I’ve always wanted a smooth and seamless experience across platforms—and Kando is exactly what I was hoping for!

I have a few questions and feature requests that I’d love to share:

1. Export & Import Settings – Does Kando currently support exporting and importing settings?

2. Cross-Platform Settings – Are the configuration files cross-platform? For example, if I set everything up on Windows, can I transfer the settings to my Mac without issues?

3. Auto-Update Feature – Will there be an automatic update feature in the future? Manually downloading and replacing the app each time can be a bit inconvenient.

4. App Launcher Menu Item – Would it be possible to add a dedicated app launcher menu item instead of relying solely on the universal URI configuration? A few reasons why this would be helpful:

• It may not feel intuitive for casual users.
• On Windows, we have to manually prepend "file:///" and replace backslashes with slashes every time, which can be a bit tedious.
• Without a file picker dialog, getting the correct file path for multiple apps requires repeatedly opening and closing Kando’s settings screen.

I’ve tried other (kind of) similar apps like Charmstone and Pieoneer, but Kando stands out as the best in almost every way! However, app assignment feels a bit cumbersome compared to the rest of the experience. I believe adding a menu item that accepts raw file paths and automatically processes them (e.g., adding "file:///" and adjusting slashes under the hood) could make this much more user-friendly.

5. Hotkey Behavior – I noticed that when holding down my hotkey combination for the Kando menu, I can highlight a menu item simply by hovering over it and then release the keys to select it. I love this behavior! As a longtime Charmstone user, I find this incredibly intuitive because it eliminates the need for extra mouse clicks or key presses.
   Is this an intentional feature, or did it just happen to work this way? I really hope it’s intentional because it makes the experience so much smoother!

For an even better experience for users who prefer this kind of control, I think adding a dedicated option to refine this behavior—similar to how Charmstone handles it—could be a great enhancement:
a. In Charmstone, the menu only appears when the mouse cursor moves slightly after pressing the shortcut. This helps prevent accidental pop-ups from unintended key presses.
b. The menu instantly disappears if the hotkey is released without hovering over anything, making it easy to cancel the action effortlessly.

I feel like additional control option with these refinements could make the experience even more seamless while keeping Kando’s fluid workflow intact.

Thanks again for all your hard work! I truly appreciate what you’re building, and I’m excited to see how Kando evolves.

[Schneegans]

Woah, that's many points!

First of all, thank you very much for the kind words! I'll try to provide answers to most of your points!

Export & Import Settings

Have a look here. You can simply copy or backup the config files.

Cross-Platform Settings

The format is the same, however your menus might not work as expected. Many configured apps and file paths will be obviously different on a different OS.

Auto-Update Feature

Maybe. I think most users currently install Kando via some sort of package manager, so they get updates automatically. On Linux there are many different package managers which ship Kando, on Windows you can get it via winget, on macOS via homebrew. So an auto-update feature would be redundant for most users. And Kando would somehow need to be aware of the package manager that was used to install it, which is not trivial.

App Launcher Menu Item

It's planned. See here.

... requires repeatedly opening and closing Kando’s settings screen.

Using a fullscreen config dialog was a bad design decision. I'm currently working on a new settings dialog which will be a lot more user-friendly. You can see some early mockups here. You can also join our Discord where I post updates more frequently!

I believe adding a menu item that accepts raw file paths and automatically processes them (e.g., adding "file:///" and adjusting slashes under the hood) could make this much more user-friendly.

This has already been implemented for the next version. See the changelog.

Hotkey Behavior – Is this an intentional feature, or did it just happen to work this way? I really hope it’s intentional because it makes the experience so much smoother!

You should maybe watch this video ☺️.

The menu instantly disappears if the hotkey is released without hovering over anything, making it easy to cancel the action effortlessly.

This could be an option. See here.

Thanks again for your feedback! And feel free to join our Discord server if you have more questions or feedback!

[Jenix-Park]

Thanks, you answered all my questions! 😊

Also, right after asking about it, I found the video and realized it’s actually the Turbo Mode you carefully designed! 😲 That’s amazing!

Seriously, you’re covering almost everything users could ask for—your attention to detail is incredible.

That said, even though you already mentioned you’re not too keen on it, I still think adding either an auto-update or at least a manual update option would benefit a lot more users. Since you clearly have a great sense of user experience, I’m sure you’d agree that removing even small friction points can make a big difference for users.

These days, many people prioritize smooth, visually appealing, and simple user experiences over feature-packed apps that feel a bit clunky or outdated. If you haven’t noticed a demand for that with Kando yet, I’d say it’s probably just because people haven’t discovered it yet.

Speaking of discovery, I actually found Kando through the comments on this video about the macOS app Pieoneer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XS08pya8oc

I was one of the first viewers, and the UI and animations immediately hooked me, so I bought it on the spot.
But after testing it, I refunded it right away because, well... it was basically just animations. Since I was already using Charmstone, it didn’t add much value.

That’s when I saw people in the comments mentioning Kando—and that it’s cross-platform—so I gave it a try. And now here I am, completely hooked!

If you check Pieoneer’s developer’s YouTube channel, their views were quite low, and their apps didn’t seem to be getting much attention. But one video got picked up by the algorithm, and suddenly, Pieoneer skyrocketed.

After that, I checked back on the App Store, and sure enough, they had raised the price—and I think we both know why. 😆

I’m convinced that with the right promotion, a lot of casual users would love Kando too. Once all the upcoming features are in place and everything is polished, I really think you should consider selling it on the Microsoft Store and Mac App Store as well.

If that ever happens, you can count on me to be your first customer on both platforms! 😆

Thanks again for all your hard work—Kando is already amazing, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next!

[Schneegans]

Thank you for the kind words! Kando is a very fun project to work on. For now, it's mostly one of my spare-time projects, so I am quite happy with a more "organic" growth. But yeah, it can happen at any time that somebody with lots of subscribers posts a video on it...

Anyways, I am glad that you like it! Show it to your friends and promote it wherever you can 😉!

[Jenix-Park]

The fact that Kando is just a spare-time project makes its quality even more impressive! Seriously, that’s incredible.

Whenever you feel the time is right, you might consider putting Kando on the Mac App Store. I’m not too sure about the Microsoft Store, but I’ve seen some paid open-source apps on the Mac App Store that still offer free downloads directly from their websites—Keka is one example.

People buy apps on the Mac App Store for all sorts of reasons—some like the convenience of automatic updates, others just want to support the developer, and some don’t even realize there’s a free version available elsewhere.

Having Kando on an App Store could also help get more exposure, and who knows—it might even go viral if people start talking about the fact that there’s a paid version on the store but a free one on the website. That could create some extra buzz!

Until then, I’ll keep spreading the word about Kando myself. 😊 I’ve already recommended it to my friends and colleagues, and don’t be surprised if you spot my comments on random YouTube videos in the future—haha!

Cheers! 🎉