Preferences and Settings

Customize Rando to match your workflow and preferences.

Accessing Preferences

Three ways to open preferences:

Menu bar: Rando → Preferences...
Keyboard shortcut: ⌘, (Mac) or Ctrl+, (Windows)
Right-click Rando icon in Dock → Preferences

The Preferences window opens with multiple tabs for different settings categories.

General Settings

Basic app behavior and performance options.

Scan Performance

Adjustable scan speed slider:

Responsive (50): Frequent UI updates, slower overall scan
Balanced (150): Good balance (default setting)
Fast (500): Faster scan, less frequent UI updates

How it works:

The number represents how many files to check between UI updates. Higher = faster scanning but less frequent progress updates.

Recommendations:

Storage Type	Setting
Local SSD	Fast (500)
Local HDD	Balanced (150)
USB 3.0 External	Balanced (150)
USB 2.0 External	Responsive (50)
Network NAS (fast)	Balanced (150)
Network NAS (slow)	Responsive (50)

Performance Tuning

If Rando feels sluggish during scanning, move toward "Responsive". If you have a fast system and want quicker scans, move toward "Fast".

Thumbnail Size

Adjustable thumbnail display size:

Range: 50-300 pixels (max dimension)
Default: 150 pixels
Slider control: Real-time preview

Considerations:

Smaller (50-100px): More photos visible, faster scrolling, lower memory
Medium (150-200px): Good balance, easy to identify photos
Larger (250-300px): Better detail, fewer photos visible, more memory

Animate Thumbnails

Control animation in the thumbnail grid for GIFs and WebP images:

Toggle: On/Off (default: On)
When enabled: Animated GIF and WebP images animate in the thumbnail grid as you browse
When disabled: Animated images display as static images (first frame only)
Lazy loading: Animations only play when thumbnails are visible on screen
Badge display: Shows "GIF" or "WebP" badge based on animation type

When to disable:

Large collections with many animated images causing sluggishness
Older hardware with limited CPU/memory
Preference for less visual distraction while browsing
Battery conservation on laptops

Performance

Disabling thumbnail animation can significantly improve scrolling performance if you have many animated GIFs or WebP images in your collection.

Recent Folders

Configure recent folders list:

Limit: 5-20 folders (default: 10)
Clear history: Remove all recent folders
Auto-cleanup: Old folders removed when limit reached

Folder Memory

Remember last selected folder:

Enabled: Rando reopens with last folder loaded
Disabled: Start fresh each launch

Slideshow Settings

Comprehensive slideshow customization.

Timing Settings

Default Slide Duration:

Range: 1-60 seconds (default: 5)

Transition Duration:

Range: 0.1-2.0 seconds (default: 0.5)

Enable Cross-Fade Transitions:

Toggle: On/Off (default: Off)
When enabled, images smoothly blend using Transition Duration
Automatically skips animated GIFs and WebPs

Control Auto-hide Delay:

Range: 1-10 seconds (default: 3)

Toggles:

Auto-advance On/Off
Loop Slideshow On/Off
Always Start Full-Screen On/Off

Display Settings

Background Color: Black / Dark Gray

Control Size: Small / Medium / Large

Control Opacity: 10-100% (default: 40%)

Image Scaling: Fit / Fill / Actual Size

Image Source: Selected Only / Entire Folder

Show Image Info: Display filename overlay

Always Show Image Info (nested): Keep filename visible even when controls auto-hide

Show Progress Indicator: Image counter

Zoom & Pan Settings

Enable Pinch to Zoom (default: On)

Prevent Zoom Out Past 1:1 (default: On)

Natural Scrolling for Pan (default: Off)

Enable Option+Scroll to Zoom (default: On)

Scroll Zoom Sensitivity: 0.005-0.02 (default: 0.01)

Keyboard Shortcuts

All slideshow shortcuts are fully customizable. Click any shortcut field, press your desired key combination, and save automatically.

Reset to defaults button restores original bindings.

See Keyboard Shortcuts for complete reference.

Advanced Options

Preload Images: 1-10 (default: 3)

More = smoother transitions, more memory

Memory Management: Automatic cleanup

Multiple Slideshows (macOS)

Configure behavior when running slideshows on multiple displays:

ESC Key Behavior:

Stop Current Slideshow - Only stops the focused window
Stop All Slideshows - Stops every running slideshow (default)
Exit Fullscreen First - First ESC exits fullscreen, second stops slideshow

Avoid Duplicate Images: (default: On)

When enabled, different slideshows avoid showing the same image simultaneously. Prevents visual confusion when viewing multiple displays.

Limit Slideshows to Display Count: (default: On)

When enabled, the maximum number of slideshows equals the number of connected displays. Disable this to allow multiple windowed slideshows on the same screen (useful for ultrawide displays or side-by-side viewing).

Keyboard Shortcuts Reference:

Shows Option-modifier shortcuts for controlling all slideshows at once:

⌥ Space - Play/Pause All
⌥ ← / ⌥ → - Previous/Next All

Privacy Settings

Control data collection and privacy.

Analytics

Usage analytics toggle:

Disabled by default: No data collected
Opt-in only: Explicit user consent required
Anonymous: No personal information

What's collected when enabled:

Feature usage statistics
Performance metrics
Session duration
Device information (OS version only)

Never collected:

Photo content or filenames
File paths
Personal information
Location data

Crash Reports

Automatic crash reporting:

Toggle: Send anonymous crash reports
No personal data included

Appearance Settings

Theme:

System (follow OS)
Light
Dark

UI Scale:

Normal (100%)
Large (125%)
Extra Large (150%)

Reset Preferences
Clear Recent Folders
Clear Tag Data (Pro)
Complete Reset (requires restart)

Warning

Reset operations cannot be undone. Export tags before resetting.