Kyodo
Announcements

We Built a New Kyodo. Welcome to V2

March 13th, 2026 • 15 min read

Hello? Is this thing on? I actually get to announce it now? omg.



It's finally here. Today we're launching V2, our all-new, refreshed Kyodo experience. It’s honestly surreal getting to finally type this out. We’ve been hard at work for the past five months on this release, and we’re happy to finally reveal that V2 will be available in app stores globally starting March 14th. You can download the new update on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Before we dive into what’s new, let’s start with what V2 actually is (and how we got here). Then we’ll walk you through all the shiny new toys it comes with. Sit tight, and we hope you enjoy reading what we’ve been up to ❤️

So what is V2, and how did we get here?

A lot of you may know V2 for being this hyped-up new update for the Kyodo app that we’ve been teasing for a while. And while that’s technically true, what’s been made public so far was essentially just a part of an overhaul built entirely from scratch that goes beyond the app itself. We’ve completely redesigned and rebuilt Kyodo, the servers, the website, and the way we run everything from the ground up.


We’ve essentially started taking this seriously. Kyodo wasn’t much outside of a hobby project. Our biggest goal was to build something fun, gain experience, and.. (fingers crossed) help a couple of people make friends through something we’ve built. We valued human connections more and more the further our world wanted to stray away from what a genuine conversation was like. This all finally clicked into place when Amino, one of the last rafts still floating, blew its last bubbles before sending floods of refugees to Kyodo. It was- sudden. Quiet, kind of surprising too. Despite seeing all the red flags early on, which we called out in our devlog, we were still shocked. We honestly weren’t quite sure where we would even start. We had this cozy little home we built with what essentially was just sticks and stones. Aesthetic? Maybe.. But how about we try fitting a hundred thousand people in there and.. no.


That wasn’t it. We quickly tried to add more, patch bugs, and try to hold it all together with hopes and prayers. It continued to feel like trying to take out some end game level with an empty inventory. And then we decided to take a few steps back.. we were, in all honesty, cooked. We then got back to where it all started, on a whiteboard.


We had a mission: to rebuild Kyodo on the right basis. Live up to the trust, faith, and support our users put into us. To keep a path open for everyone wanting to build real connections. And so we made a massive bet and put all our chips on red.


And today, after months of work, we are ready to ship our first release of V2 🌱


Now, let’s get into it! What’s new?


1. The app

  • The Kyodo app experience got a complete redesign. We hand-crafted a new design system for the new identity and feel of Kyodo. This redesign aims to enhance the user experience, look magnificent, and adapt to all kinds of customizations.

2. The home

  • Kyodo’s homepage was redesigned to get you back in the discussion ASAP. See your circles in a cleaner, more defined look with circle covers to help you spot your favorite circle at a glance. Creating circles is now more accessible, with a simple walkthrough to start your own circle quickly and carefully fine-tune the exact look and feel you want for your aesthetic.

  • Discovering circles was also refreshed to make it easier to find places to hang out in. Browse and search by your interests, view member counts, descriptions, and appeal more with circle covers. Switching regions is now snappier and easier, and it will no longer change your app’s language.

  • The global notifications center was also changed to make it easier for you to quickly get to that one eye-catching notification you woke up to, with an easy way to tell apart which notifications come from which circles. TK announcements are also neatly tucked away there for when you need them. You can find the same layout for your global chats as well!

  • We’ve also introduced an easier way to reach your global profile and settings from your nav, as well as easy access to the Kyodo Shop and your cosmetics.

3. The settings

  • Settings were also updated with the new UI, making it easier for you to reach your global profile, manage your subscription, find support and resources, control your privacy options and preferences, and manage your interests. You’ll also find a little spot to view Kyodo’s credits for everyone who made V2 happen! Be sure to give them some love ❤️

4. Circles

This is a big one: the entire circles layout got refreshed as well! More tabs, more pages, more options, more customizations. Let’s go through a few key features:

  • New circle creation flow. The circle creation flow was overhauled to walk you through the necessary steps to get into your brand-new circles more quickly, set your preferences, and customize things so you can start hanging out faster. Start from scratch, add a new circle via an invite link or code, or pick a template to get started.

  • The new circle home. A new way for you to set up your circle exactly how you want it. Choose which pages to show, reorder them, pick your default page, pin posts, and customize your featured layout so your community feels organized and fully yours.

  • Explore page. Browse and filter all of your circle’s content. Sort by most liked, commented, or recently posted. Filter by time range, and search for content, members, and chatrooms across your entire circle.

  • New activity center. See all currently online members in your circle, quickly access admins and moderators, and see what members in your circle are up to at a glance.

  • Leaderboards. You can now compete against other members in your circle for the number 1 spot! See where you rank in how much you engage in a circle, and view ranks across different time ranges.

  • Customization. Layout isn’t the only thing you can customize. A whole lot more ways to customize your circle were added! Choose your circle theme with a UI that adapts your color, add a description with full formatting and media support, pick an image for your drawer, set a header image, add an introductory tagline, show off your circle topics with a lot more to come!

  • Permissions. Tune your circle permissions exactly how you want them. Pick and choose which group of users gets to access features on your circle, as well as the option to manually approve or disapprove who gets to join your circle.

  • Moderation. With V2, we’re also introducing a new admin dashboard! View reports, manage permissions, invites, join requests, view audit logs and stats, and quickly take action on reported content inside your circle.

  • Circle drawer. Switch between circles easily within seconds from any circle. Quickly access your profile and glide through all of your circle pages any time.

5. Posts



Posts had a TON of changes and additions as well! Let’s take a look at some of the new post types introduced in V2.

  • Formatting is entirely new on V2! Similar, but not quite markdown, you’ll be able to format your post content on a character-by-character basis! Bold, italicize, underline, and strike through individual letters and words. Add hyperlinks, block quotes, dividers, and pick from 3 sizes of headings.

  • Post customization is another big feature. You’re now able to style your post however you like with a custom background color, text color, or image backgrounds that blend in nicely with the new cover layouts!

  • More options for content. You can now add images and videos to your posts with a gallery view for all your media elements to place wherever you want on your posts.

  • Your blogs got a brand new look! They’re now called articles, and they come with all the fresh new formatting and customization abilities we’ve mentioned above and more for you to explore!

  • Threads. Threads are a new way for you to express yourself and discuss things in your circles. Threads are meant for those who want to talk about topics without needing to worry about customizations or over-formatting. No titles, just write what’s floating on your mind. This is also how all comments will appear. Nest discussions as deep as you want! It’s also on the roadmap to let you post threads as any of your personas, so stay tuned!

  • Wikis. You can now post wiki articles (YIPPEE) about your favorite characters, shows, and more, with attributes for any table details you’d like to add about your topic! Wikis will be pinned in a row on your profile by default too. The same formatting and customization abilities are also here!

  • Personas are now full-blown articles too. Describe your persona’s lore in detail as much as you want, and style them the same way you can on articles!

  • Polls. You can now attach polls to your posts, add options, end votes and see winners and voters.

6. Profiles

As with the other pages, profiles also got a bunch of new features and design improvements.

  • Bios are now compatible with customizations and formatting! You can style them the same way you style articles, and add the same content to express yourself in style!

  • Statuses are a new feature we added to profiles. You can write custom text statuses to let everyone know what you’re up to! You’re also able to set your activity appearance to offline for those who want to be stealthy 🥷

  • Profile themes are a new way to customize your profile. Set custom background colors and text colors, and your threads and posts will also adapt to your profile theme to suit the look.

  • More discoverability with persona grids and the chatrooms you own.

  • Showcase your badges in a new badges center. Collect ‘em all!

7. Chats



  • The chat list got a new look as well. See what your mutuals are up to at a glance through their statuses, see who’s online right now, and discover chats easily with a flick.

  • Requests are now grouped into their own dedicated tab. You can quickly see message requests and choose between joining a conversation or blocking and/or reporting them.

  • More formatting options have also been added to messages, with the ability to view messages in an article-style view for all you novellas out there!

  • pin your favorite conversations to the top of your chat lists too.

  • Chat bubbles! Fully custom designs are now available for you to pick from. Find and collect ‘em all from the Kyodo Shop!

  • Typing indicators are also added, so you can see who’s typing during any conversation. No more awkward pauses or “Hello?..”s!

  • And an overall smoother experience. One of the biggest pain points V1 had was buggy, unresponsive chats. We worked hard to make sure the chatting experience on V2 is a lot more intuitive and responsive ❤️

8. The servers

V2’s server infrastructure was also rebuilt entirely from scratch to be fast, scalable, and able to accommodate all users at all times. For nerds, V2 runs on Vitess, the same technology powering YouTube, Slack, and many other large services. Everyone should experience much faster, more responsive interactions on V2 going forward. We’ve learned a lot from V1, especially when it comes to handling things at a larger scale.

9. Kyodo web V2

Kyodo’s website, where you’re likely reading this, was also entirely rebuilt. This is part of a bigger roadmap and things we want to expand on for web. This update brings a new design, plus a way for you to see content outside of V2 with fully readable posts, circles, profiles, and more. Sharing Kyodo content should be a much better, smoother, and more comfortable experience.

10. Kyodo Plus

Kyodo Plus is how we’ve been able to continue this project. We would’ve never gotten here if it wasn’t for your continued support and faith in this project. From the deepest part of my heart, thank you to everyone who believed in and contributed to the funding of Kyodo. We’ve put every minute of time we could afford into making Kyodo THE communities and fandoms platform. Thank you for helping us bring this dream to life.

As a token of gratitude for everyone who supported the project during V1, we’ll be giving an exclusive Early Supporter badge to anyone who purchased Kyodo Plus.


Early Supporter badge


Genuinely could never thank you enough. 💛💛💛

We also understand not many people were aware of this badge, so the window to get yours will be extended to any Plus subscriptions until April 14th. We won’t be giving this badge out again after that, so please keep that in mind!

V2’s Plus also comes with plenty of new features:

  • Exclusive new Kyodo Plus cosmetics
  • Profile themes
  • Chat bubbles
  • Animated profile pictures
  • Chat pinning
  • Early access to new features
  • Double the stickers limit
  • Many more planned features to come!

With an option for annual subscriptions at discounted prices! We’ll also continue to support regional pricing. Thank you so much for supporting Kyodo <3

Closing notes


Honestly, it’s still crazy to be finally able to write this announcement. There are so many things we didn’t cover in this blog, but we’ll leave those for you to find out. Developing V2 really was a journey we’ll never forget. We’ve made lots of memories and friends along the way. To say we’ve had the best community we could have ever wished for will always be an understatement.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible. And thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Can’t ever put it to words.

We’ll continue to update V2 with new features, improvements, and fixes to the best of our ability. We don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s about time we spare everyone from V1, as much as we’ll miss it.

If you haven’t already, give V2 a try. You might like it.



For the love of human connection, creativity, and what brings us together,

— Team Kyodo ❤️