Settings, Shortcuts & Updates
Desktop preferences, keyboard shortcuts, and automatic updates.
The Kalima desktop app keeps its own preferences, global keyboard shortcuts, and a self-updating mechanism so the app fits your workflow and always stays current. This page covers where those settings live, every shortcut, and how updates work.
These preferences only exist in the installed desktop app. If you open the same screen in a regular web browser, Kalima tells you the settings are available only in the desktop app.
Where settings live
Desktop preferences live in one dialog with seven destinations: General, Audio & recording, Meetings, Privacy & permissions, Notifications, Shortcuts, and Updates & about. The dialog opens over your current Studio screen, so changing a preference does not navigate away from an active recording.
General & startup
General controls how Kalima starts and how it looks.
Startup behavior
Both options are off by default. Start hidden stays unavailable until Open at login is enabled, since it only applies when the app launches on its own.
If you live in back-to-back calls, turn on both Open at login and Start hidden. Kalima quietly waits in the tray, ready to detect your next meeting, without cluttering your screen.
Theme
Choose Light, Dark, or System appearance for the app. System (the default) follows your computer's light/dark setting automatically, including any scheduled switch. Your choice persists across sessions.
Background running & the system tray
Keep running when the window closes is on by default. Kalima stays in the system tray, or the menu bar on macOS, so meeting detection and shortcuts remain available. Turn it off if the close button should close the main window normally.
The tray icon gives you a quick menu:
- Show Kalima brings the window back to the front
- Desktop settings opens the settings dialog directly
- Start Transcription / Stop Transcription controls recording without opening the window
- The current app version
- Quit fully exits the app
When background running is enabled, the window's close button hides Kalima. Use Quit from the tray menu to exit completely.
Global keyboard shortcuts
These shortcuts work system-wide, even when Kalima is not the focused app, so you can start, stop, or mute from inside your meeting app without switching windows.
| Action | Windows / Linux | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Start or stop transcription | Ctrl + Shift + T | Cmd + Shift + T |
| Mute or unmute your microphone | Ctrl + Shift + M | Cmd + Shift + M |
| Bring the Kalima window to the front | Ctrl + Shift + K | Cmd + Shift + K |
Choose any shortcut button to record a different combination. Kalima shows whether each combination registered successfully and flags conflicts with another application. Reset shortcuts restores the defaults. Ctrl + , on Windows and Linux, or Cmd + , on macOS, opens Desktop Settings while Kalima is focused.
If a shortcut reports a conflict, choose another combination or reconfigure the application that already claimed it.
Automatic updates
Kalima keeps itself current so you always have the latest fixes and features without hunting for downloads.
How updates run
The app checks for new signed releases on a schedule (roughly every six hours, with a first check shortly after launch) and can download them in the background. If a meeting is active, an update waits rather than interrupting your recording, then resumes once you are done.
Checking and installing manually
Update states you might see
The Updates panel shows a clear status as it works:
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Up to date | You already have the latest release. |
| Checking | Kalima is looking for a newer version. |
| Available | A newer version exists and can be downloaded. |
| Downloading | The update is being fetched (with progress). |
| Ready | The update is downloaded; restart to install. |
| Deferred | An update is waiting because a meeting is active. |
| Disabled | Automatic updates are turned off for your build. |
| Error | Something went wrong; the panel explains what. |
Installing an update requires restarting the app. The Release channel is either stable (general releases) or beta (earlier previews), and which channel and update availability you get is managed by Kalima.
Settings reference
A quick map of the preferences on the Desktop Settings page and their defaults.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Open at login | Launch Kalima when you sign in to your computer | Off |
| Start hidden | Launch in the tray (needs Open at login) | Off |
| Theme | Light, Dark, or System appearance | System |
| Keep running when the window closes | Keep detection and shortcuts available from the tray | On |
| Default microphone | Choose the input used for new recordings | System device |
| Input gain | Adjust the level applied to future recordings | 0 dB |
| Recording folder | Choose where local screen recordings are stored | Documents/Kalima/Recordings |
| Stealth mode | Hide the window from screen shares and screenshots | Off |
| Enable meeting detection | Detect calls on your computer | On |
| Show meeting assist | Show the recording prompt when a call is detected | On |
| Auto-start high-confidence calls | Record clearly-detected calls without a prompt | Off |
| Record in background | Hide the window after a detected recording starts | Off |
| Include microphone by default | Add your mic when a detected meeting records | On |
| Auto-stop when call ends | Stop recording when the call ends | On |
| Local diagnostics | Keep a local-only detection log for troubleshooting | Off |
| Desktop notifications | Allow selected operating system notifications | On |
| Notification sound | Let the operating system play notification sounds | On |
| Global shortcuts | Register shortcuts outside the focused window | On |
| Hardware acceleration | Use the graphics processor for rendering | On |
FAQ
All seven Desktop Settings destinations exist only in the installed desktop app. If you see a message that they are unavailable, open the screen from inside the Kalima desktop app.
By default, closing the window hides Kalima in the tray so it can still detect meetings. Turn off Keep running when the window closes for normal close behavior, or choose Quit from the tray menu to fully exit.
About every six hours, plus a check shortly after launch. You can also check, download, and install at any time from Desktop Settings > Updates & about.
Kalima intentionally defers updates while a meeting is active so it never cuts off your recording. The panel shows Deferred in that case. Finish or stop the meeting, then click Download update or Restart to update again.
Automatic updates are not available for your current build. This is managed by Kalima. If you cannot update from the app, download the latest version from the Kalima website and reinstall.
Open Desktop Settings > Shortcuts. A conflict badge means another application claimed that combination. Record a different combination or reset the shortcuts to their defaults.
No. Theme is purely cosmetic and changes the app's appearance only. Your transcripts, recordings, and settings are unaffected.