Answers for both filmmakers and viewers. Use the Help button on the dashboard if your question isn't covered here.
Kinodal lets filmmakers share a cut with viewers and watch reactions come in as the film plays — a positive/negative pulse and intensity, synced to the exact timestamp, plus optional spoken voice notes. It works with video hosted on Vimeo or Frame.io.
Yes — install the free Kinodal app on your phone. It's the primary way both filmmakers and viewers use Kinodal, and viewers need it on hand to record reactions while watching. There's also a web-browser-only option that needs no app at all: At Viewer's Convenience screenings let a viewer watch and react entirely from a browser. (Any Frame.io screening still needs the free Kinodal Sync Chrome extension on a laptop — see the syncing question below for details.)
At Viewer's Convenience — viewers watch on their own schedule, whenever works for them. This is the only format that accepts reactions from a plain web browser — no app install needed for the viewer.
Live Remote — everyone watches together at a scheduled time, from wherever they are. Reactions come from the Kinodal phone app only (not the web browser) for this format.
Live Local — a scheduled group screening in one room. Same phone-app-only reaction rule as Live Remote.
Either works. Vimeo tends to be the simpler setup. Frame.io reactions require a small Chrome extension in order to sync playback from the web with the phone app (see the For Viewers section below for details on syncing).
You share a join code or a link (Share Invitation from the screening's menu). Viewers create a free viewer account (or log in, if they already have one) using that code.
Open the screening's Engagement Report — it shows a live-updating timeline of every reaction, synced to the video's own timestamp, plus a per-viewer legend you can toggle on/off, and any voice notes with their transcriptions.
Yes — from the sessions list, open a screening's menu to edit its scheduled time (Live formats) or its name/episode (any format).
Yes — duplicate the Aggregate report to get an editable copy. On the copy, you can delete individual reactions and voice notes, add your own filmmaker notes, filter which viewers are included, and include your own reactions alongside viewers'. The original Aggregate itself stays intact — reactions on it can't be deleted, only on a duplicated copy.
Yes, automatically, on every tier including the free trial — a viewer can leave a spoken note at any timestamp and it shows up transcribed in the Engagement Report. Voice notes can also be translated into English from up to 98 different languages, powered by OpenAI's Whisper.
Yes — the report can be exported (including ALE/XML formats for editing software) and duplicated/combined with other screenings of the same cut.
Yes — there's a public, shareable version of the report with its own per-viewer toggle list, so you control exactly what's included before sending it out.
Nothing is deleted. If you're over your new tier's limits (e.g. more active screenings than the lower tier allows), everything stays viewable and exportable — new joins/adds beyond the limit are what get blocked, not existing data.
| Plan | Price | Screenings/mo | Viewers/screening | Voice note minutes/mo | Voice note audio kept for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free | 1 (one-time) | 3 | 60 | 60 days |
| Indie | $19/mo | 10 | 10 | 180 | 180 days |
| Pro | $49/mo | 20 | 30 | 1,000 | 365 days |
| Studio | $199/mo | 50 | 200 | 5,000 | 2 years |
(Transcription text itself is never deleted, on any plan, even after the audio is archived.)
Yes — you'll create a free viewer account (or log in, if you already have one) using the join code.
On the web: press the up/down arrow keys (or click the thumbs up/down) at the moment something lands or doesn't, and pick the intensity. On the app: swipe.
Yes — hold down to record a voice note at any point in the film; it gets transcribed automatically for the filmmaker.
A Frame.io screening plays in its own Frame.io tab rather than inside Kinodal, so a small Chrome extension ("Kinodal Sync") relays the video's playback position back to Kinodal in real time — that's what makes sure your reactions land at the right moment in the film. One-time setup: install the Kinodal Sync extension from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to your toolbar. Then, for each Frame.io screening: open the screening's Frame.io link in Chrome, copy the Session ID and Token shown on your Kinodal screen, and paste both into the extension's popup, then start the sync — reactions sync automatically from there once the film starts. Vimeo screenings don't need any of this; the video plays directly inside Kinodal.
Yes, for the web browser viewing experience (both Vimeo and Frame.io) — most TVs/streaming devices support browser-tab casting (e.g. Chromecast), or you can use your TV's screen-mirroring feature. Not currently available from the phone app itself.
Submit your report — that's how the filmmaker knows you have finished the screening.
From your Account page, via Kinodal's billing portal (powered by Stripe) — you can change plans or cancel any time.
One screening, up to 3 viewers, 60 minutes of voice-note transcription a month — enough to try a full real screening before deciding on a plan.
Use the Help button (top of the dashboard) — it goes straight to Ruth/the support team, and response priority depends on your plan.
Still have a question? Get in touch