Ente: end-to-end encrypted photos in Flutter
If Immich is the self-hosted default, Ente is the privacy-first counterpart: clients (including Flutter mobile) encrypt before upload, and the server stores blobs it cannot read.
What to study
- Key UX. Recovery phrases and family sharing beat “trust us” dashboards.
- Encrypt-then-upload pipelines with resumable transfers.
- Product surfaces for Photos and Auth-style secrets.
Pitfalls
- Users forget passphrases — design account recovery before launch.
- Thumbnail generation must not leak plaintext on shared devices.
Copy the threat model conversation, not just the cipher choices.