Ente Help

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Comments and Likes ​

Ente lets you comment on and like shared photos and videos. Whether you're collaborating with family on a vacation album or collecting memories from a wedding, comments and likes help you engage with shared content while maintaining end-to-end encryption.

Where comments and likes work ​

Comments and likes are available on:

  • Shared albums: Albums you've shared with other Ente users or that have been shared with you
  • Public links: Albums shared via public links, including collect links
  • Both authenticated and anonymous users: Ente users can comment with their account, while public link visitors can comment anonymously

Comments and likes are not available on private albums that haven't been shared.

How it works ​

All comments and likes are end-to-end encrypted using the album's encryption key. Even though multiple people can interact with your photos, Ente's servers never have access to the unencrypted content of comments or likes.

When you comment on a photo or like it, only people with access to that shared album can see your interactions. Anonymous commenters on public links are assigned a temporary identity that's encrypted and tied to the specific album.

Liking photos and videos ​

Adding likes ​

You can like any photo or video in a shared album:

On mobile:

  1. Open a photo in a shared album
  2. Tap the heart icon in the bottom bar
  3. Your like is added instantly

On web/desktop:

  1. Open a photo in a shared album
  2. Click the heart icon in the viewer
  3. Your like is added instantly

The heart icon fills in to show you've liked. Tap or click it again to remove your like.

Viewing who liked ​

To see who has liked a photo:

  • On mobile, long pressing the heart icon shows the likes and on web, right clicking does
  • You'll see names for Ente users and display names for anonymous likers from public links

Commenting on photos and videos ​

Adding comments ​

On mobile:

  1. Open a photo in a shared album
  2. Tap the comment icon in the bottom bar
  3. The comments sheet opens at the bottom
  4. Type your comment (up to 500 characters)
  5. Tap the send button

On web/desktop:

  1. Open a photo in a shared album
  2. Click the comment icon in the viewer
  3. The comments sidebar opens on the right
  4. Type your comment and press Enter or click send

Your comment appears immediately for all album participants.

Replying to comments ​

You can reply directly to any comment to maintain conversation threads:

On mobile:

  • Long press on a comment bubble and select "Reply", or
  • Swipe right on a comment to quickly start a reply
  • Type your reply and send

On web/desktop:

  • Right click a comment and click the reply icon
  • Type your reply and send

Replies show a quote from the parent comment to maintain context.

Liking comments ​

You can like individual comments:

On mobile:

  • Double tap a comment bubble to quickly like it, or
  • Long press on a comment and select the heart icon
  • The like count appears in the bottom-right corner of liked comments
  • Tap the like count to see who liked the comment

On web/desktop:

  • Right click over a comment and click like

Deleting comments ​

You can delete your own comments, and album owners/admins can delete any comment:

On mobile:

  • Long press on your comment
  • Select "Delete"
  • Confirm the deletion

On web/desktop:

  • Right click on the comment and click delete

Multi-album files ​

If a photo appears in multiple shared albums, you can choose which album's comment thread to view:

  • Open the comments view
  • Use the album selector dropdown at the top
  • Switch between albums to see different comment threads

Each album maintains its own separate comments and likes for the same photo.

Anonymous commenting and liking ​

People viewing your album through a public link can comment and like without creating an Ente account:

First-time visitors are prompted to:

  1. Enter a display name (used to identify their comments)
  2. Start commenting and liking

The display name is stored encrypted and associated with their browsing session for that specific album.

Enable or disable comments and likes:

Album owners can control whether comments and likes are allowed on public links:

  1. Open album settings
  2. Go to "Manage public link"
  3. Toggle "Enable comments and likes"

When disabled, comments and likes and their buttons are hidden from public link viewers.

Who can delete public link comments:

  • Anonymous commenters can delete their own comments
  • Album owners and admins can delete any comment, including anonymous ones

This helps you moderate content collected through public links.

Feed - Social activity overview ​

The Feed feature provides a centralized view of all social activity across your shared albums:

What appears in your feed:

  • New likes on your photos
  • New comments on your photos
  • Replies to your comments
  • Activity from all shared albums you participate in

Accessing the feed:

On mobile:

  • Go to the "Sharing" tab
  • Tap "Feed" at the top
  • Scroll through recent social activity

Feed is available on public albums.

The feed updates in real-time as people interact with your shared content, making it easy to stay engaged with collaborative albums without checking each one individually.

Comment and like limits ​

To maintain performance and prevent abuse:

  • Comment length: Maximum 500 characters per comment
  • Anonymous display names: Maximum 50 characters
  • Multi-line support: Comments can span multiple lines for better formatting
  • One like per person: Each user/anonymous visitor can add one like per photo

Platform availability ​

Mobile apps (iOS and Android):

  • Full support for comments and likes
  • Can add, view, reply, like, and delete
  • Feed feature available
  • Interactive gestures (double-tap to like, swipe to reply)

Web and desktop:

  • Full support for comments and likes
  • Can add, view, reply, like, and delete

Privacy and encryption ​

Comments and likes maintain Ente's strong privacy guarantees:

  • End-to-end encrypted: All comment text and like data are encrypted using the album's encryption key
  • Server-side privacy: Ente's servers store only encrypted data and cannot read comments or likes
  • Like padding: Like types are padded to a fixed size before encryption to prevent length-based analysis
  • Anonymous privacy: Anonymous commenter identities are encrypted per-album and not linked across different public links

Even in collaborative albums with many participants, your comments remain private and can only be read by people with legitimate access to the album.