It Started with a Plea for Help
The seed for Rando was planted by a photographer friend who also posts a lot of her work to various social media pages. As a photographer, she takes and has LOTS of pictures.
Picking pictures for her social media posts had become a daunting and exhaustive effort. She was always obsessing and searching for the right picture — sometimes spending hours over-analyzing and still being unsure of her final decision.
The Moment Everything Changed
We were tearing down from an event she had organized where I was volunteering. When she discovered I built apps for a living, she immediately said:
"If you could make an app that would randomly pick a photo to help me more quickly choose what to post to social media, that would be great."
She went on to explain her pain points and mentioned she had been searching for a simple tool that would do this, but came up empty-handed. I verified this myself — searching for "Random Image Picker", "Photo Finder", and similar terms yielded no dedicated solutions.
From Prototype to Product
I built a prototype in an evening focused on solving her decision paralysis problem. But something unexpected happened while testing it on my own family photo archives...
It was addictively fun. I found myself hitting "Random" over and over, discovering photos from 2008, then 2015, then 2011. My kids as babies. That trip to Hawaii I'd forgotten about. The old apartment. Each click brought pure joy and excitement - like channel surfing through my own memories. What started as a utility app had become entertainment.
When I sent the MVP to my photographer friend, she confirmed both aspects worked: it solved her decision paralysis AND she found herself using it just for fun, browsing her archives during downtime. "It's weirdly addictive," she said. When asked about pricing, she said she'd easily pay $13.99 — far more than the typical app store price.
The Dual Discovery: Utility AND Entertainment
We solved two problems we didn't know were connected. Yes, Rando eliminates decision paralysis for professionals who need to pick photos quickly. But it also turns boring photo archives into genuine entertainment.
Most people have thousands of photos on external drives from the DSLR era - too many to browse traditionally, too boring to organize. Rando makes them FUN again. The random discovery creates surprise and delight. The gaming-style slideshow controls make browsing feel like play, not work. It's Spotify shuffle mode for your memories.
Who We Built This For
IMPORTANT: Rando is designed specifically for Mac and Windows users who store photos LOCALLY on hard drives, external drives, or network storage. It does NOT currently work with cloud-only photos (iCloud Photos, Google Photos, etc.).
Photographers with External Drives
RAW files on RAID arrays, client shoots on dedicated drives, years of archives on backup drives.
Content Creators with Local Archives
Project files on external drives, backup drives full of content, years of work stored locally.
Privacy-Conscious Users
Those who refuse to upload personal photos to cloud services and maintain local control.
Photo Collectors with NAS Systems
Decades of family photos on network storage, Time Machine backups, multiple backup drives.
Our Philosophy
We believe your photo collection should be a source of joy, not stress. Whether you're a professional needing to make quick decisions or someone with 50,000 photos gathering digital dust, Rando makes photos FUN again.
Every feature we add must pass two tests: Does it make browsing more enjoyable? Does it reduce friction? We're not building another organization tool - there are plenty of those. We're building entertainment software for your memories.
Features That Make It Fun (Version 3.0)
- 🎮 Gaming-Style Controls: Customizable hotkeys, jump controls, zoom like a video game
- 🎲 Instant Random Discovery: One click surfaces surprises from 10,000+ photos
- 🎬 Pro Slideshow Mode: Toggle random/sequential, full-screen entertainment
- 📁 Multi-Folder Mixing: Combine different drives for maximum variety
- ⚡ Lightning Fast: No waiting, just instant gratification
- 🏷️ Optional Tagging: Tag favorites as you browse (but organizing is totally optional!)
Privacy First
100% Local Processing. Your photos NEVER leave your Mac. All processing happens locally. No cloud uploads, no data collection, no internet required. Perfect for sensitive client work and personal photos.