Desktop App Overview
What the Kalima desktop app adds on top of the browser, and how the two compare.
The Kalima desktop app runs the full Kalima experience in its own window and adds capabilities a browser simply cannot offer. It detects your video calls, captures your computer's audio, runs quietly in the background, and updates itself automatically. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and uses the same account and data as the web app.
Why use the desktop app
Everything you can do on the web works in the desktop app too: live transcription, file uploads, translation, AI summaries, and the Studio. The difference is what the desktop app adds on top.
Same account, same data
Signing in to the desktop app uses your existing Kalima account. Your sessions, transcripts, projects, workspaces, balance, and plan are exactly the same whether you open Kalima in a browser or in the desktop app. The desktop app is just another way in, with extra capabilities for capturing meetings.
Local screen and video recordings are the one thing that stays on your device rather than syncing. They are saved to a folder on your computer, not the cloud. Everything else (transcripts, summaries, exports) lives in your account and is available everywhere.
Installing on your computer
Download the build for your operating system, run it, and sign in with the account you already use in the browser. The one step worth reading up on is the very first launch on Windows: the installer is not yet signed with a Windows code-signing certificate, so Windows stops to warn you before it lets Kalima open. The macOS app is signed and notarised by Apple, so it opens straight away. The install guide walks through the Windows prompt, and through what to do if the app still refuses to start.
Want hands-free meeting capture from the moment your computer starts? After installing, turn on "Open at login" so Kalima is always ready to detect your calls. See Settings, Shortcuts & Updates.
What's different from the browser
Both versions share your account and data, so you can switch freely between them. The desktop app simply does more around capturing and managing meetings.
| Capability | Web app | Desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Live transcription & recording | Yes | Yes |
| File uploads & offline transcription | Yes | Yes |
| Translation, AI summaries, Studio | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting detection & one-click recording | No | Yes |
| Capture your computer's / meeting audio | Limited (browser sharing) | Yes (native on Windows) |
| Screen / video recording (saved locally) | No | Yes |
| Picture-in-Picture floating video | No | Yes |
| Stealth mode (hide from screen share) | No | Yes |
| Runs in the background (system tray) | No | Yes |
| Global keyboard shortcuts | No | Yes |
| Automatic updates | No | Yes |
For a fuller side-by-side, see Web App vs. Desktop App.
Staying current
The desktop app keeps itself up to date by checking for new releases on a schedule and downloading them in the background, so you always have the latest fixes and features. If an update is ready while you are in a detected meeting, Kalima waits until the meeting finishes before interrupting you. You can also check, download, and install updates manually from Desktop Settings, where you can see your current version and release channel. Full details are in Settings, Shortcuts & Updates.
Good to know
- The app window has a minimum size of 800 by 600 pixels.
- Recording, transcription, translation, and AI inside the desktop app use your normal plan minutes and quotas. The desktop app itself is available to all customers.
- A couple of advanced capabilities (isolating a single app's audio and native, browser-free screen recording) are Windows-only. On macOS and Linux, Kalima captures system-wide audio and uses your browser's screen-sharing permission instead.
Frequently asked questions
Windows, macOS, and Linux. Windows uses a standard installer where you can choose the install folder, macOS comes as a disk image (.dmg), and Linux ships as an AppImage or a .deb package.
The website covers core transcription, uploads, translation, AI, and the Studio. The desktop app adds features browsers can't: automatic meeting detection with one-click recording, capturing your computer's audio, running in the system tray, global keyboard shortcuts, floating picture-in-picture video, stealth mode, and local screen recording. Use the desktop app when you want to capture meetings on your computer.
Yes. The desktop app signs in with your existing account, so your sessions, transcripts, projects, balance, and plan are identical in both. The only exception is local screen and video recordings, which are saved to a folder on your computer rather than synced to the cloud.
Sign in with email and password inside the app, or choose Sign in with Google, which opens your normal browser and returns you to the app automatically. Once signed in, the app stays signed in across restarts. See Signing In on Desktop.
On Windows and macOS, closing the window minimizes Kalima to the system tray (menu bar on macOS) so it keeps running and can still detect meetings. To fully exit, use Quit from the tray menu. On Linux, closing the last window quits the app.
It checks for new releases automatically and can download them in the background, with the option to check, download, and install manually from Desktop Settings. Updates wait until any active meeting finishes before they interrupt you.