Kino Files is not an app in the traditional sense. You can’t download it to your phone. It doesn’t have points or leaderboards or quirky unlockable characters. It is, however, a program you can use to do something very useful on Kinode right now. It provides a fundamental framework for more complex applications being built on the network, and, importantly, it demonstrates how Kinode drastically simplifies the development and deployment of decentralized applications.
Remember, pearls grow from sand.
Let’s start with the simple stuff.
Kino Files is an application (composed of processes) that facilitates the decentralized sharing and storage of files. It allows you to upload any number of files to your node, which can then be downloaded by any other node with appropriate permissions. Users can also download their own files to any computer that has access to their node, effectively allowing File Transfer to act as a remote backup. Users can manage their permissions so that files can only be accessed by a particular set of nodes, such as those on a friend’s list, or that files cannot be accessed by known malicious nodes, such as your mother.
Simple, like we said. But, we promise, very important.
Kino Files demonstrates two important aspects of Kinode:
The ease of building and deploying applications The composable, lego-like nature of Kinode protocols
In the words of our developer, Akira, building Kino Files was “alarmingly simple.” That’s because, when developing an application on Kinode, all you have to worry about is application functionality itself. Networking, permissions, deployment, distribution, and even file management are all built into the Kinode system (you can read more about our primitives and architecture here). With Kinode, managing app state is a breeze. You don’t have to bother with wrangling huge databases, or making data persist between application launches. You need only focus on new processes: in this case creating and deleting files, transferring files, and making directories.
We promise, dApp development has never been easier.
On a system level, Kino Files represents an important building block—a fundamental tool essential to any number of decentralized applications to be built on Kinode. It is the first brick in a decentralized comms suite that allows the sharing of assets, such as art or music. It is an essential distribution tool for developers sharing their own software, such as video games, or creators sharing content. In fact, the Kino App Store already makes use of Kino Files to allow users to download new applications hosted on other nodes, demonstrating how Kinode processes fit together to create necessary frameworks for a dynamic, vibrant application ecosystem.
Kino Files is ready to use right now, but it is ripe for extension. As Kinode further develops its blockchain integrations, it will soon be simple to add permissioning tied to onchain assets, such as Eth addresses or NFTs. DAOs will be able to create NFT-gated file folders that may be downloaded only by members of the community. It is easy to imagine the creation of an IPFS-style decentralized file storage, in which files are collectively hosted by a network of mirrors (and verified through hashing) to make all sharing censorship resistant. And, finally, Kino Files is the first step in the creation of a remote backup system that automatically syncs to remote nodes, creating a decentralized drive that allows files to be passed back and forth between multiple users.
Each of these extensions is, relatively speaking, straightforward to implement. As the Kinode system as a whole develops, it will only become easier to stitch together multiple processes and protocols to create a true Frankenstein’s monster in the original sense—applications that are powerful, shocking, and completely new.
Kino Files is just one part of the next great Kinode application. Now, we just need you to build it.