Ente Photos, the private alternative to Google Photos

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We decided to talk to you about a project Open source really very interesting: Ente is excellent alternative to Google Photos, probably one of the best. And we'll reveal right away that we also managed to get the 10% discount for anyone who wanted to try it: just add the code LEALTERNATIVE valid only for the first year of use. (for Apple users: you must register via the web or Android because coupons cannot be added on iOS. However, after registering you can also use the iOS app). We would like to underline that, as always happens, this is not a referrals but only a discount code, it means that nothing will arrive to us if you sign up with this code. If you are a student, contact them because there is a 30% discount for you.

Having made this small but necessary premise, let's start talking about Ente. As many of you already know, unfortunately, the world of alternatives to Google Photos it is not full of interesting applications. We are obviously talking about cloud software entirely dedicated to photo albums because if you just upload photos and videos and see them as they are files and folders then you can use any alternative to Google Drive without looking for anything else.

Ente: the strengths and weaknesses

A mini-summary table on what we think are the strengths and weaknesses of Ente. In the article we explain the various positions well.

Ente is perhaps the best cloud alternative to Google Photos

As we know about alternatives in Self-Hosting there are several such as Piwigo, the excellent PhotoPrism or even Immich. But for whom he doesn't want to mess around and wants an all-inclusive system, with simple album sharing and a graphical interface suitable for photographs and videos, there are not many alternatives especially if we eliminate Big Tech, i.e. Google Photos And Amazon Photos.

Another reality that we could talk about later is Stingle Photos, however it seemed much more interesting to talk to you first about Body: the community around it is much more enthusiastic and participatory, the developers are omnipresent and the various applications are constantly updated with continuous new features.

Stingle Photos, however, despite having more downloads on the Play Store than Body, seems to have stalled a bit in development. To understand better: the latest update True of the Stingle Photos application for Android dates back to December 2021, their official chat on Telegram it is definitely (too) silent, the desktop application and the web version have been delayed for years and the service seemed generally slower than what we could observe on Body.

Ente and servers in Europe

One of the things that we liked most about Ente is the fact that the data is all stored on European servers which are located in Holland, France And Germany ¹.

You can also view images anywhere - there is a mobile application for Android (also on F-Droid) And iOS. On desktop there is an application for Windows, macOS And Linux. It's possible too view photos and videos uploaded to any Browsers.

In short, all this adds to the already positive notes mentioned at the beginning, that is, the developers always with a ready response and very attentive towards their users (Discord And Matrix).

Architecture and Zero-knowledge encryption

The architecture of Ente allows the storage of photographs and videos with Zero-knowledge encryption: it means that no one, not even them, can see what you have uploaded to Ente. Everything is encrypted and you will be the only one with the key to decrypt everything. All is Open source and verifiable.

Let's now come to the actual application. As always, before talking about it, we tested it for several weeks and it seemed really well made and with few problems.

The characteristics of Ente

The graphics are modern and pleasant. You can synchronize any folder containing photos or videos from your smartphone, obviously including those taken from your device, or you can leave everything deactivated and upload only the photos you want.

In the initial home tab you will see all the photos present on Ente and those waiting to be uploaded to the cloud (indicated by a speech bubble with an x, you can understand if you decide to upload the photos only in the presence of Wi-Fi).

In the tab dedicated to albums you will find all the albums you have created on Ente which can be sorted by name or upload date. Albums have a default photo that cannot currently be modified (but it is one of the functions that will be present later) and it is the first in the album.

Then we find the tab relating to shared albums and here we want to open a separate point.

Sharing albums

To share an album with someone you have two choices: via link (and anyone with the link can see it} or by entering the email address of another Ente user. In this case the person will automatically find it in the “ sectionalbums shared with me“.

A person can create an account on Ente independently or when purchasing a paid package you can decide to share your space with 5 other family members by creating an account for them. In this case they will have a Ente account and will also have your space available if they want to use it.

Finally we find the settings tab. For being an independent service that has been around for just over two years ² There are a lot of really interesting settings:

• the backup can take place automatically or manually and it is possible to exclude videos (in case you want to save on occupied space);
• there is an image recognition system that allows you to delete duplicate photos and another system that allows you to free up space from your system by deleting photos already uploaded to the Ente;
• you can set up two-factor authentication;
• you can block the opening of the application with a PIN or using biometric recognition (fingerprints);

Changing dates and times

Another interesting feature is the ability to change the date and time of the photograph or video. In our opinion, it is an absolutely interesting option, especially for those who carry around old photographs or videos that have lost their metadata. In this case you can create old albums by also inserting dates, real or approximate, making them easier to search and more practical to view.

Import from Google Photos

Another of the interesting features is the ability to import directly from the file takeout that Google creates for you when you decide to download all the photos from your account. Therefore the migration from Google Photos to Ente is easy and painless, especially now that Google no longer offers free space for those who want to archive photos and videos in original quality. Here you can find our guide to leaving Google Photos.

Ente: what's new coming soon

Following theirs Road map and by reading their support channels we can tell you what features should be coming in the coming months and years:

• being able to decide which photo should be the album cover;
• search for photos based on their location;
• image editor for the web version (already available on Android);
• insert tags in images to find them more easily;
• possibility of collaboration between various users: for example sharing an album and allowing the person with whom we shared it to add images;
• allow you to upload photos in qualities different from the original one;

Obviously, if you decide to sign up, do so for what Ente is today and not for what it will be: we don't know when these new features will be added.

Ente: the negative notes

We have to admit that we didn't find many downsides to the Ente, as long as you're okay with leaving your photos in the cloud of course. However, there are some aspects that may not be entirely convincing, for example they recently passed from Indian to US jurisdiction ³.

In addition to this we know that they use Cloudflare for uploading encrypted files ⁴ to make everything much quicker and quicker.

These, in reality, are not problems in terms of security or privacy because the files traveling on Cloudflare are obviously encrypted and thus remain on the European Ente servers which, as mentioned, reside in Europe. Furthermore, in addition to the photos, the metadata is also encrypted ⁵

This means that even if they were somehow forced to account for some user, they would not be able to hand over anything (they only collect IPs and user-agents) other than encrypted files and only you have the key.

This is similar to Signal which uses and has used AWS in the past ⁶ and Microsoft servers ⁷ or what to use Cryptomator on Google Drive. The problem is mainly ethical, not safety.

The data that Ente collect on you

Let's also remember that Ente does not require any type of personal data but only an email and payments are made via Stripe (or with cryptocurrencies) without them keeping track of any data. The information they have about you is: IP address and user agent ⁸. Which is no small thing, mind you. But they have always claimed to be a service that offers privacy, not anonymity. In short, it's what we always do: if you need anonymity, it's probably not a good idea to use an online cloud for photos.

Reading their blog you discover how they initially attempted to become a European company but to do so they needed physical offices which they don't have. The United States, they always say through their blog, is the best compromise they have found.

Independent audits

Body it has not yet been the subject of any independent audit, at least at an official level. Unofficially, however, according to the developers, their architecture has already been reviewed by several people who are experts in the sector ⁹. This obviously means everything and nothing, at least until an official certificate is issued.

Still reading and following their chat we discover that they are basically waiting to complete some steps and improvements such as updating their API ¹⁰. This makes sense since Ente is still in its release 0.6 and it would make no sense to pay for an independent audit if their structure will soon have to be modified, making any audit received already obsolete.

However, we would like to say it since it is an important thing that could even make you give up trying Body, awaiting official certifications. Up to now, given that we have been following them for some time, we can tell you that they work well and that they keep what they announced.

Costs

The cost of the cloud is quite high ¹¹, especially because we are talking about only uploading photos and videos, but not too much if we consider that everything is encrypted and for now everything seems to be working and fast. However, let's talk about:

• 9.99€ per year for 10GB
• 49.99€ for 100GB
• 99.99€ for 500GB
• 249.99€ for 2000GB.

Another point on this aspect: videos are slow to load precisely because of encryption. On average, you have to wait about ten seconds before you can open a video in the cloud. This is also something that, according to the developers, will be fixed by allowing the streaming of low quality videos thus reducing loading times ¹².

The last criticism concerns the login. For security reasons, to log in for the first time on a device you always need access via email, even if two-factor authentication is already active. It means that you will enter your username, you will receive an email with a code, you will enter the code and then enter your password. Finally you will also be asked for the 2FA code. This, as mentioned, only happens when the device is first connected, however this aspect is also being observed to see if it can be improved ¹³

Download and use Ente

We conclude the article by leaving you some useful links. We remind you that we also managed to get the 10% discount for those who want to try it: just add the code LEALTERNATIVE (for Apple users: you must register via the web or Android because coupons cannot be added on iOS. However, after registering you can also use the iOS app).

Furthermore there are their communication channels where, as mentioned, they are very active:

1. Where is my data stored?[↩]
2. I'm building an E2EE alternative to Google Photos[↩]
3. Reflections on trusting trust[↩]
4. Making uploads faster[↩]
5. However the data they do receive would be useless because it's encrypted (photos and metadata)[↩]
6. A letter from Amazon[↩]
7. Scaling secure enclave environments with Signal and Azure confidential computing[↩]
8. What information do we collect?[↩]
9. Meanwhile, just so you know, we've had independent audits of our architecture done by folks at IBM Research[↩]
10. The other reason for pushing the external audit is that our APIs are currently in a state of flux.[↩]
11. Ente pricing[↩]
12. This is totally in the queue of things we will do soon, but unfortunately not yet in sight 😔 just too many other things to wrap up first. But we'll get to this.[↩]
13. So I'll want to think if we can merge some of the steps without compromising on security.[↩]

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