Everything you need to know about Rando — compatibility, features, privacy, and pricing. Click a question to expand.
Yes — free to start, with Rando Pro available.
Rando is a Universal app for iPhone and iPad. Tap to surface a random memory from your Photos library, swipe through, or let the slideshow run.
Yes! Absolutely.
Rando works perfectly with:
Yes! Photos Library integration is now available on macOS.
You can browse and select albums directly from your Mac's Photos Library:
Privacy note: Rando requests read-only access to your Photos Library. Your photos never leave your Mac - we can't see them.
iPhone & iPad: The iOS app reads directly from your Photos library and the Files app — pick any album or folder and start randomizing.
Note: Photos Library integration on the desktop app is macOS only. Windows users can access local folders and external drives.
Rando supports all common image formats:
macOS: Most RAW formats work natively through the system's built-in support.
Windows: HEIC and RAW formats are supported natively using the built-in Magick.NET library. No additional codec extensions required!
Your iPhone photos and professional camera RAW files work out of the box.
A lot. Rando scans at the filesystem level, not EXIF, so it loads tens of thousands of photos in seconds, not minutes. Even faster on Apple Silicon.
Whether you have 500 photos or 50,000, Rando handles it smoothly.
The randomization experience and privacy.
They don't shuffle. Google Photos and iCloud Photos don't offer true randomization. Their "Memories" features use algorithms to surface photos based on dates, people, and places - predictable and curated, not random. You see the same highlights over and over.
Rando gives you genuine surprise and control. Every click delivers something unexpected from your entire collection. When something catches your eye, you can drill into that folder and explore that moment. Then zoom back out to random. You'll rediscover photos you'd never have browsed to manually.
Plus, there's the privacy advantage: Cloud services require uploading everything to their servers, which means:
Rando keeps everything local. Your photos stay on YOUR drives. We literally cannot see them - there are no servers to upload to.
Yes - Export Slideshow, on both Windows and Mac. Pick the photos you want, choose Export Slideshow, and Rando writes a self-contained slideshow folder. Copy it to a USB stick, hand it to a relative, or tick the ".zip for sharing" option and upload it to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive and send the link. On a Mac you can also hand it straight to AirDrop, Mail, or Messages with the Share button once the export finishes.
You'll find it under Slideshow → Export Slideshow on Windows and File → Export Slideshow on Mac, and the matching Open Exported Slideshow command in the same menu.
Whoever receives it opens it in Rando. Your timing, transitions, background, image filter, and the exact order you set up travel with it as preferences - they can change anything they like, and your own settings are never affected.
Nothing is uploaded by Rando. The export is a folder on your own disk. Where it goes next is entirely your choice.
Rando offers a lot for free, forever.
Free version includes:
Everyone gets a 7-day free trial of Pro features.
Pro unlocks the full experience:
Pro subscription: $4.99/month, $49.99/year, or $109 lifetime.
Yes! Use Grid Sort Mode to switch between Random and sequential order.
The sort button in the toolbar (the ↑↓ icon) lets you browse your entire scanned library sorted by:
Click the same sort mode again to flip between ascending and descending. You can also right-click any image and use the "Sort Grid" submenu. Click Randomize anytime to return to random discovery.
Platform availability: Available on macOS (v4.2.0+). Windows support planned for a future update.
Yes, through folder selection.
When you select a folder, Rando only randomizes photos within that folder (and subfolders). Simply don't select folders you want to exclude.
Pro tip: Organize sensitive photos into separate folders and don't select those folders. This gives you complete control over what Rando can access.
Yes! 100% offline.
Rando never requires an internet connection. All processing happens locally on your device. Perfect for:
Different random photos on each screen. Turn any room into an immersive memory experience.
Not a screensaver. You're actively engaged: keyboard control, zoom, and the ability to drill into any folder. One monitor can run random discovery while another explores a specific event or year.
Three control modes:
To start: Go to Slideshow → Start Slideshow on Monitor and select which screen.
Platform availability: Available on macOS and Windows.
The Standard slideshow shows one photo at a time. The new Collage slideshow (5.0) fills the whole screen with many photos at once.
The Standard slideshow is the classic, focused experience: one image fills the display, and you step, zoom, drill into a folder, or cull as you go.
The Collage slideshow turns your display into a living wall of photos that keeps refreshing on its own — dozens of moments on screen at once. Set it and walk away. Pick the look that fits your space:
It's hands-off but interactive whenever you want: double-click any tile to jump into a full slideshow starting from that photo, click a tile's edge to flip it back or forward, or hover for its filename and controls. Animated GIFs and WebP images play right inside their tiles, too. On multiple monitors you can mirror the same wall across every display or run a different collage on each. Set the pace, default layout, Flow tile size, and reshuffle timing in Slideshow Preferences.
Yes. The Flow collage wall drifts on its own, and you're in full control of how it moves.
Everything works the same on Mac and Windows.
It does — and if it isn't, update to the latest version. Older builds of the scrolling Flow wall looped the screenful of photos it started with, so a library of thousands could feel like a few dozen on repeat. That's fixed: the wall now continuously pulls in fresh photos as it drifts.
The refresh happens on the tiles just past the edge of the screen, so a photo never changes while you're looking at it and the wall stays calm. It works whether or not Auto-cycle tiles is switched on.
Auto-cycle tiles (the Cycle button in the on-screen collage controls, off by default) is a separate choice: it controls whether tiles also swap while you're watching them. Turn it on if you like more movement; leaving it off no longer means seeing the same pictures over and over.
By default, it shuffles once and loops that order. When you start a random slideshow, Rando shuffles your photos so every photo is shown once before any repeats - then it replays that same order each time it loops back to the start.
If you'd rather have a different order every loop, turn on the "Reshuffle order each loop" option in Slideshow Preferences (it's also in the Quick Settings panel). With it on, an auto-advancing random slideshow generates a fresh shuffle every time it wraps to the start - so each pass through your photos is in a new order. Every photo is still shown once per pass; only the order changes between passes.
It applies when sort order is Random and Loop is on, and only while the slideshow is auto-advancing - stepping through manually with the arrow keys never changes your order.
Yes. Rando can launch straight into a slideshow on its own, so it works as a screensaver replacement, a kiosk or storefront display, or an always-on photo wall that starts on a schedule. It opens, restores the folders you used last time, and starts playing - no clicking required.
On Mac, use the built-in rando://startSlideshow link - run it from Terminal (open "rando://startSlideshow"), an AppleScript, or a Shortcuts "Open URLs" action you can schedule.
On Windows, start Rando with the --start-slideshow command-line switch (Rando.exe --start-slideshow) - point Task Scheduler at it to run at a set time.
Optional settings let you pick a Collage wall or the classic one-at-a-time show, and run it on the current screen or every screen. Whether Rando is already open or fully closed, it brings back your last folder selection first, just like clicking Start Slideshow.
No. Filters (Black & White, Sepia, Vintage) are applied at display time only, everywhere in the app - the grid, the standard slideshow, and the Collage wall. Your original photo files on disk are never touched.
On Mac and Windows, filters are free for everyone, with no Pro lock. On iPhone and iPad they are part of Rando Mobile and Rando Pro, with a free 10-minute daily preview. Change the filter anytime from Preferences or right inside a slideshow's Quick Settings, and it takes effect immediately.
There are several quick ways to switch: a Filter button right in the main toolbar, a Filter menu, a button on the slideshow's on-screen controls, and (during a slideshow) pressing "F" to cycle through the looks one at a time.
Yes. On Mac and on iPhone/iPad you can pick a transition for the standard slideshow: Cross-fade or a plain cut (both free), or Ken Burns (a slow drift and zoom across each photo), Slide, Zoom, Flip, or Random for a different motion on every photo. Set the speed to Slow, Normal, or Fast.
On the Mac, change it in Slideshow Preferences, in Quick Settings, or from the Transition menu on the slideshow's on-screen controls (press "T" to switch between no transition and your last motion). On iPhone and iPad it lives in Settings, Slideshow, and behind the style button during a slideshow. If your device has Reduce Motion turned on, every motion becomes a gentle cross-fade.
Ken Burns, Slide, Zoom, Flip, and Random are Rando Pro features on the Mac, with the same free 10-minutes-a-day preview as Collage and multi-monitor slideshows. Cross-fade stays free on every platform. Image Filters are free on Mac and Windows, and a Rando Mobile / Rando Pro feature on iPhone and iPad with a free 10-minute daily preview. Windows will get transitions in a coming update.
Yes, from your iPhone or iPad. Open Control Center, tap Screen Mirroring, pick your Apple TV (or any AirPlay-capable TV), then open Rando and start any slideshow. Tap Play on TV and Rando fills the TV with a full-screen show while your phone or iPad becomes the remote: play, pause, skip, change the timing, shuffle, and a Stop TV Mode button. A Lightning or USB-C HDMI adapter works the same way.
Tall photos get a soft blurred backdrop instead of black bars, and your device stays awake for as long as the show runs. One thing to know: under AirPlay mirroring, iOS only hands Rando the TV while Rando is the app on screen, so keep it in front. Switch away or lock the phone and the TV goes back to mirroring; come back and the slideshow picks up where it left off.
On a Mac, plug the TV in (or use AirPlay as a second display) and start a multi-monitor slideshow; every connected display is treated like any other monitor.
The Rando Memory widget on iPhone and iPad is built to greet you with one forgotten photo every morning, at 7:00, on your Home Screen, the iPad Lock Screen, or in StandBy while your iPhone charges on its side. That once-a-day rhythm is the free tier, and it always has a photo ready even if you have not opened Rando in days.
Rando Pro refreshes the widget up to hourly, adds a Shuffle button on the widget for a new photo on demand, and lets each widget draw from a different album. "Up to hourly" because iOS decides exactly when widgets refresh and may stretch the interval on days you rarely look at it.
If the widget says "Open Rando to pick an album", open the app and view any album once; that becomes the widget's source. Tap the widget any time to open that photo in Rando.
7-day FREE trial, then:
Both plans unlock all Pro features. No credit card required for the free trial.
Yes. Subscriptions are managed through the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store. Cancel anytime from your account settings.
If you cancel, Pro features remain active until the end of your current billing period.
Yes. On the Mac App Store you can switch from monthly to annual at any time - use the one-tap "Switch to Annual" prompt inside the app, or the Mac App Store subscription settings. Your annual plan begins at your next renewal date, so there's no double billing and nothing to cancel.
Annual is $49.99/year versus $4.99/month - that's like getting two months free. On Windows, switch by starting the annual plan in the Microsoft Store and cancelling your monthly plan from your account.
No! Early adopters who purchased before we switched to subscriptions have lifetime access to all Pro features - no subscription needed. Our way of saying thank you for supporting us early.
Special access for beta testers and partners.
The "Unlock Lifetime Access" feature in the Help menu allows select users (beta testers, reviewers, press, special partners) to unlock permanent Pro access using special access codes without requiring a subscription.
This feature is not publicly available but may be offered to select users for testing, reviews, or promotional purposes. If you've been provided an access code, you can use this feature to unlock Pro features permanently.
For regular users: Start your 7-day free trial to experience all Pro features, then choose monthly or annual billing.
No. Rando Mobile is an iPhone-and-iPad-only subscription — it doesn't unlock anything on the Mac. If you want the Mac app too, upgrade to Rando Pro.
If you're on a Rando Mobile subscription, upgrading to Pro is prorated by Apple for the rest of your billing period, so you only pay the difference. If you bought Rando Mobile Lifetime, that purchase isn't credited toward Pro — Apple doesn't offer trade-in credit from a one-time purchase toward a subscription, so Pro is the full price on top.
No. Rando Pro is one subscription for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Sign in to the App Store with the same Apple Account on your iPhone or iPad, open Rando, and use Restore Purchases if it doesn't unlock automatically.
Yes! Your subscription works on all devices signed into your App Store or Microsoft Store account.
For example: One subscription covers your MacBook, iMac, and Mac Mini (or multiple Windows PCs).
Family Sharing (Apple): Rando supports Apple Family Sharing, so your subscription can be shared with up to 5 family members on their own devices.
We literally cannot see your photos. Here's why:
Your photos stay exactly where you put them - on your drives, under your control, accessible only to you.
No. Rando never modifies your original files.
When you tag photos or create slideshows, all metadata is stored in a separate local database. Your original images remain untouched and unmodified. You can delete Rando at any time without affecting your photo collection.
iPhone & iPad:
macOS:
Windows:
When Rando hits a problem it can't recover from, it saves the details to a file on your computer and shows you where. Sending us that file is the fastest way to get it fixed.
Where to find it:
%LocalAppData%\Rando\Logs\crash.log — paste that
into the File Explorer address bar
~/Library/Containers/com.interapp.rando/Data/Library/Application Support/Rando/Logs/crash.log
— in Finder, use Go → Go to Folder and paste the path
The file records what failed, along with your Rando and system versions. It does not contain your photos, folder contents, or file names, and it stays on your device — nothing is sent anywhere unless you attach it to an email yourself. Send it to webinquiry@iadev.net.
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