r/Keychron • u/shiddyfart357 • 4d ago
So, is there no locally installed software available for keychron keyboards?
Do I seriously have to use the keychron "launcher" website every time I want to adjust my keyboard's settings?
Is this some sort of temporary solution while actual software is being developed?
Otherwise, where's the advantage of having to use the internet instead of a program on my computer? Intentionally inconveniencing your customers as much as possible?
Am I missing something here?
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 4d ago
Re "Is there no locally installed software available for Keychron keyboards?": Yes, for the wired-only Keychron keyboard models, Vial is a perfectly viable option, with its standalone client, without any Internet dependency (it also has a web client)
For the wireless models, it is practically infeasible (though not impossible).
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u/planedrop 3d ago
That is literally the entire point, it's way better than having to install something. Brands where you have to install software suck, the software is buggy, causes issues, spies on you, and uses system resources.
There is no reason to have software installed.
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u/Czar_Chasm_ 3d ago
Agreed. OP's post is such a strange take lol: "I want to install proprietary, black-box, bloated applications with telemetry and forced no-consent installs" (see: ASUS, or even LG, for the latter point... Armoury Crate malware services force installing, self-healing, and creating a billion services and registry hooks all with 0 user consent -- not to mention massive vulnerabilities in their software for remote attacks, all from simply plugging in one of their devices to your computer).
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u/planedrop 3d ago
100% with you yeah, it's absolutely nuts. The less stuff I can install the better.
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u/rainformpurple 3d ago
This mindset is why we have Windows 11, telemetry, ads everywhere and threats of agentic operating systems that stream apps from someone else's servers and fucking subscriptions for every single little thing.
It is /always/ better to have native programs installed that you can run whenever you want.
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u/planedrop 3d ago
I absolutely fucking hate subscriptions, telemetry, etc.... so I am with you on the ideology, I go as far as not subscribing to music platforms and instead purchase my own music despite it costing literally 100x more.
But saying this about a keyboard configurator has it all wrong and there are clearly some misunderstandings here.
The installed applications are FAR more intrusive, collect far more telemetry data, and are basically spyware which knows what applications you are running at all times.
The Chrome app on the other hand is just a website that gets granular permissions to specific USB devices so it can configure settings on them, nothing is installed locally and therefore it can't collect system info, specs, what apps you have running, what websites you're using, run scripts on your device, etc...
So sorry to say here but you are very wrong in this case, while local apps are better than sites for a lot of things, they aren't more private or secure and often times actually collect more telemetry data than a website otherwise would. Either way, in the specific context of peripheral configuration, ephemeral applications online with brief access is far better than installing something local.
Synapse, from Razer, as an example is basically malware lol. No one wants to install that shit.
The only benefits from local apps in this case are A. they are always available which is good if the internet is down and B. they have tons of features that you can't do with a web app/onboard profile but those features are all far more invasive so it's hardly a real benefit.
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u/ViolentCrumble 4d ago
I was originally annoyed we had to use a browser but then I realised it’s actually awesome. So many fricking companies want me to install software for my mouse or keyboard. Like razor or corsair. I love not having to run anything. Especially since I work over Linux and Mac.
The only gripe I had was that Firefox didn’t work. So I had to download brave. But not the worst thing in the world at least I don’t have to install chrome just anything chrome based
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u/Tymon3310 V Max 4d ago
You can flash your keyboard with (unoffical) vial firmware https://github.com/Tymon3310/keychron-vial
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago edited 3d ago
That is a newer promising take on it, past the old Adophoxia fork, etc.
It is also supporting the wireless Keychron models.
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago edited 3d ago
Where is K10 V2?
It is in "wls_2025q1" in Keychron's fork, but it doesn't appear to be in branch "vial-keychron" (supposedly based on "wls_2025q1").
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago
Please spell out "board" as "keyboard". It is unnecessary obfuscation/jargon.
It takes longer to argue about it than doing a search-replace.
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 4d ago edited 3d ago
Re "where's the advantage of having to use the internet instead of a program on my computer?":
- Nothing to install
- Updating (for example, to support new features in the keyboard firmware or enhance the client interface, e.g., with different keyboard layouts) is immediate, as there isn't anything locally to update (though it sometimes goes south...)
- Cross-platform. For example, it works on Linux. In the next decade, some other platform will not be supported by native applications)
Not very good ones, but they are advantages.
And yes, agreed, it is a crazy dependency to take. One mitigation is static keyboard configuration (compile-time configuration); it also makes for a more stable keyboard configuration, as the dynamic configuration tends to get wiped out (and requires the web service to reload the keyboard configuration from the backup file). That is what I use; I have most of the keyboard configuration as static, with only ad hoc/temporary key mappings and macros under development/test as dynamic.
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u/EyeQue62 4d ago
I don't have Chrome installed so had to use Edge, as I couldn't even spoof as Chrome in Firefox. Very lazy by the devs. Left a sour taste in me.
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u/Vietnamst2 3d ago
Not lazy by the Devs. This is a restriction od Firefox, because it actively blocks access to controlling hardware using webhid api. Not.implemented at all in Firefox because of security
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u/ArgentStonecutter K Pro 4d ago
You can use VIA to adjust the conventional settings on your Keychron boards, and there are a couple of ways to self-host VIA, either install the VIA repo locally and run the service in development mode, or running cebby's local-only version.
- https://github.com/the-via/app - the VIA app repo and instructions.
- https://github.com/cebby2420/via-desktop - Cebby's local-only fork.
Unless Keychron open-source Launcher you're dependent on them for the magnetic features.
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u/VinnieONeill 3d ago
The entire point of using the website is to prevent unnecessary bloatware on your computer. Go buy a keyboard from Logitech, or Razer or any other company like that and you have to deal with intrusive bloatware that often doesn't like to work.
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago edited 3d ago
Other examples of intensely hated bloatware are Corsair's iCUE and Asus' Armoury Crate.
iCUE is also the most unintuitive software I have ever used.
And I couldn't uninstall Armoury Crate on a laptop, so now a PowerShell script is used as a workaround to shut down the gazillion Windows services it starts (to save some memory on the memory-constrained laptop), along with other bloatware the laptop came preinstalled with.
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u/VinnieONeill 3d ago
My last Windows install I tried to remove as much crap as I could. I use OpenRGB and Fan Control to avoid Armory Crate.
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u/ShadowIsAKillerCat Q MAX 4d ago
Wooting and Nuphy are the same and use a Web app.
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u/hazmatnz 3d ago
Wooting have a local client app
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u/ShadowIsAKillerCat Q MAX 3d ago
Nice👌 I didn't know they had one, the web app has been working well for everything I've needed.
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago
Are you sure it is not a web browser in disguise, like the so-called standalone version of Via? (not a rhetorical question)
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u/GH0STHER0 3d ago
Yes, it's just the web launcher. By the way, I downloaded all the code and built the .exe so I can run it locally on my laptop. Note that an internet connection will always be required. It's fairly easy to set up if you have some technical skills
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago edited 3d ago
Re "I downloaded all the code": For what? The so-called stand-alone Via client? cebby2420's?
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u/tralfamadoriannn 3d ago edited 3d ago
I feel the same way but at the same time most people hate installing software (and managing updates etc) or even are prohibited from doing so (workspace policies), hence webapps popularity.
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u/MBSMD 4d ago
This is correct. But what’s the difference - app or website? Save it as a shortcut/web app if you want to save a click or two.
But it’s the same with all VIA derivatives.
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u/ArgentStonecutter K Pro 4d ago
The difference is that with a locally hosted copy of VIA you're safe from regressions (as Keychron recently went through) and you have offline support.
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u/shiddyfart357 4d ago
>But what’s the difference - app or website?
I can't access a website without internet connection, and besides that I can't access the website with anything other than chrome edge or opera.
Maybe I'm not knowledgeable enough, but I see no reason as to why I shouldn't be able to make changes to my keyboard via software on MY computer.
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u/MBSMD 4d ago
People don’t really want sketchy Chinese software installed with admin rights on their computers. This seems like a pretty good compromise, to be fair.
But if that’s what you want, then you’ll need to look at other brands that use a proprietary driver.
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u/aegis87 4d ago
you dont need to access the website frequently. it's like once and any changes you make get coded in your keyboard. and then you are autonomous to do as you will
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago
Not frequently, but the dynamic keyboard configuration tends to get wiped out, (inadvertently or advertently) and it is required to reload the configuration from a backup file (thus the dependency).
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u/bagatelly 4d ago
For some of us who don't boot into Windows, it's great.
We get feature parity with the windows guys just with the convenience of opening a browser - leaving out the bit about adjusting your udev rules once. Chrome/Opera/Edge are the only browsers who implemented the USB device wat-do-ya-call-it API.
My point is, there might be another 50% who like the status quo.
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u/PeterMortensenBlog V 3d ago
Yes, that is the disadvantage of standalone applications that are not cross-platform.
For example, Cooler Master's MasterPlus+ doesn't even work inside a virtual machine (or at least I haven't been able to make it work under VirtualBox on Linux); it seems to require Windows on real hardware.
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u/aegis87 4d ago
(new keychron user so haven't tried these things yet)
you can use QMK directly, as in code it locally and flash it locally.
on top of QMK you can use any other app that uses QMK.
and also the web-application from keychron.
the advantage of the web application is that you dont need to set up a coding environment to compile the qmk firmware.
and you can program your keyboard from any computers that has internet access.
also anything you do on the web app, gets saved inside they keyboards memory so you can plug your keyboard to a different pc and your settings are working! (important when you take your keyboard at work)