Lenses and Organization
Organize your people into flexible categories that match how you actually think about your life.
Lenses let you organize your people in whatever way makes sense to you. They are flexible categories, not rigid buckets, designed to reflect how you actually think about the people in your life. In some parts of the app you will see them called groups. They are the same thing.
What is a lens?
A lens is simply a label you can apply to any person. Think of lenses as different ways to view your world: by family, by context, by closeness, or by whatever grouping feels natural to you.
Lenses are quiet and optional. They do not change how Kinu reaches out or who it highlights. That is the job of the relational compass. Lenses are just for you, a way to find and focus on a circle of people when you want to.
Default lenses
Kinu starts you with three:
- Family: the people who are family, however you define it
- Friends: your broader circle of friends
- Work: colleagues, collaborators, professional connections
These three are built in, so they cannot be deleted, but you never have to use them. If a default does not fit how you think, just leave it empty and build your own lenses alongside it.
Creating your own
You can add a custom lens from any person's profile. Open someone's profile, find the lens chips, tap the +, type a name, and confirm. The new lens is created and applied to that person right away, and it becomes available for everyone else too. You can also create and pick lenses while you add a person.
Some ideas:
- Inner Circle: your closest people, the ones who get the first call
- Neighbors: the community around you
- Mentors: people who have guided you
- Book club: or any shared activity group
- Old friends: people from a different chapter of your life
Name them whatever feels natural. The best lens names are the ones that already exist in your head.
Naming tip: A lens you can scan in a single glance is the most useful kind. "Inner Circle" or "Sunday dinners" will serve you better than a long, formal label.
One person, many lenses
A person can belong to as many lenses as you would like. Your sister might be in Family and Inner Circle. Your college roommate might be in Friends and Neighbors. No one gets forced into a single box.
You assign lenses when you add a person or anytime later from their profile. To add or remove a lens for someone, open their profile and tap the lens chips to turn them on or off.
Filtering by lens
When you want to focus, you can filter your people view by lens. Pick a lens at the top of your people view and Kinu shows only the people in that circle. Choose "Everyone" to clear the filter and see them all again.
This is helpful when you want to:
- Check in on your closest people
- See how your work relationships are doing
- Browse a specific circle without the rest in the way
Try this: Create an "Inner Circle" lens for your five to ten closest people. It becomes a quick way to see the relationships that matter most at a glance.
Editing and removing lenses
Custom lenses are yours to manage. You can delete a custom lens you created when it no longer fits. Removing a lens never deletes any people. It only takes that label off everyone who had it.
The three default lenses (Family, Friends, Work) stay in place and cannot be deleted, so your core categories are always there when you need them.
Lenses and your plan
Lenses work the same way on every plan. On the free plan you can organize up to 10 people across as many lenses as you like. With Kinu Plus, there is no limit on people, and your lenses sync across your devices along with the rest of your data.
Understanding closeness
How the relational compass shapes who Kinu gently highlights.
Free vs Plus
See what is included in every plan.
Next up: Free vs Plus. See what is included in every plan.
Still need help? Contact support