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Video Streaming ​

Video streaming is a beta feature that lets you watch videos without downloading the entire file first. Instead of downloading the full video, Ente generates a streamable version that supports instant playback and seeking.

Note: Video streaming is available in beta on mobile apps starting v0.9.98 and on desktop starting v1.7.13.

How it works ​

When you enable video streaming, Ente generates streamable versions (HLS format) of your videos that support:

  • Instant playback - Start watching immediately without waiting for downloads
  • Seeking/scrubbing - Jump to any point in the video without downloading the whole file
  • Automatic quality selection - Optimized playback based on your connection

Technical details ​

Streams are encrypted HLS files with a .m3u8 playlist. Currently, Ente converts videos to:

  • Resolution: 720p
  • Bitrate: 2mbps
  • Format: H.264

The generated stream is a single encrypted blob (AES encryption) while the playlist file (.m3u8) is separately encrypted using XChaCha20. Ente cannot read the contents, duration, or number of chunks within the generated stream due to encryption.

Enabling video streaming ​

On mobile ​

  1. Open Settings > General > Advanced > Streamable videos
  2. Enable the toggle

What happens next:

  • Videos captured in the last 30 days will start processing
  • Both local and remote videos will be processed
  • This may consume bandwidth for downloading remote files and uploading generated streams
  • Processing continues in the background

On desktop ​

  1. Open Settings > Preferences > Streamable videos
  2. Enable the toggle

What happens next:

  • New uploads will automatically generate streams
  • All existing previously uploaded videos will be processed
  • Stream generation is CPU intensive and happens in the background
  • Click the search bar to see "Processing videos..." status

Viewing video streams ​

On mobile ​

  • Open Settings > Backup > Backup status to see processing status
  • Processed videos show a green play button
  • Tap processed videos to see a Play stream button
  • Click the Info icon within a video to see stream details

On desktop and web ​

  • Desktop and web automatically play streaming versions if available
  • The quality selector shows "Auto" when playing a stream

Storage implications ​

While this feature is in beta, streams do not count against your storage quota.

This may change in the future. If it does, we will provide an option to choose:

  1. Original videos only
  2. Compressed streams only
  3. Both (original + streams)