Welcome
Halarta
Every perspective, one place. Halarta gathers everyone's photos of the same moment into one shared album — instead of the pictures ending up scattered across a dozen phones and group chats.
The idea
When a group experiences something together — a wedding, a festival, a house party, a road trip — everyone shoots from their own angle, and afterwards no single place holds the whole moment. Halarta fixes that with one simple idea: one album, every angle.
How it works
- Create an album for the moment and choose who can join.
- Snap photos as it happens, or post from your library.
- Share the link so everyone who's there can add theirs.
- Browse one feed of photos from every album you belong to — like, save favorites, and comment.
What makes it nice
Place-aware albums
Albums can be tied to a place, so only people who are actually there add photos — perfect for an event at one venue.
Invite or discover
Private albums are invite-only via a link. Public place-based albums can be found by anyone nearby.
You're in control
Post anonymously, choose whether your photo locations are shown, and take part without ever sharing your location.
Your photos are yours
No ads, no engagement bait. Just the people who were there and the photos they took.
Which album fits your event#
The right setup comes down to two questions about your group.
- Who should be able to add photos? Anyone, or only people you invite?
- Is it tied to a place? Should adding photos require being there in person, or not?
Your answers point to one of the three album types you can create:
| Album type | Who can join | Tied to a place? | Great for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public + location | Anyone there | Yes | Open public events: festivals, concerts, markets, public gatherings, venues |
| Invited + location | Invite only | Yes | Private events at one venue: weddings, house parties, private functions |
| Invited | Invite only | No | A fixed group across places or time: trips, family, teams |
Find your situation
| Your event | Use this | Why & what to set |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding reception, guests on-site | Invited + location | The invite link goes to your guest list; the location keeps it to people at the venue. Set a day or two for the duration. |
| Destination / hybrid wedding with remote family | Invited | Drop the location requirement so far-away relatives can add their photos too. Still invite-only. |
| House party, dinner party, game night | Invited + location | A small trusted group in one place. Use the "House party" size and a 24-hour duration for an evening. |
| Birthday, baby shower, graduation party | Invited + location | Same idea; widen the area to match the venue. |
| Music festival, concert, sporting event | Public + location | Anyone at the venue can find it nearby and add their angle. Use a large area like "Stadium" or "Festival". |
| Conference, convention, meetup | Public + location (or Invited + location for a private session) | Public to crowdsource the whole event; invite-only for a closed group. |
| Block party, street fair, farmers market | Public + location | Locals find it nearby. "Neighborhood" size suits a spread-out event. |
| Restaurant, café, or venue (a business) | Public + location | A photo album guests can view while they're on-site. Close it to contributions if you want only your staff to post. |
| Family vacation, road trip, group travel | Invited | The trip moves around, so no location. Fixed group; choose "Never closes" for an ongoing trip. |
| Friend group / recurring crew | Invited | An ongoing album for your group across many outings. |
| Sports team / club season | Invited | The same group, many venues, all season. "Never closes". |
| School reunion, alumni group | Invited | A known guest list spread across the map. |
The supporting choices
Duration
Match the moment: a day for a party, a week for a weekend, or "Never closes" for an ongoing group. Closing an album stops new photos but keeps it viewable.
Area size
For place-based albums, pick a size that fits the space — from a small house party to a whole neighborhood — or set a custom radius.
Your name
You can show or hide your name and avatar on your posts. Defaults vary by album type and can be changed per album.
Photo locations
You choose whether your photos appear as pins on the album map — separately from whether location is used at all.
The basics#
A few ideas that make the rest of the app click.
Reading the album icons
Each album shows small icons that tell you how it works at a glance:
- 🌐 Globe — public: anyone can join.
- 👥 People — invite-only: you need an invite link to join.
- 📍 Map pin (added to either) — tied to a place: you add photos when you're there.
So a globe + pin is a public album at a specific place; a people icon on its own is an invite-only album you can use from anywhere.
Live vs. closed
Every album is either Live (open for new photos) or Closed. An album closes when its time runs out or when the owner closes it. Closed albums can still be viewed — they just stop accepting new photos.
Likes vs. favorites
| 👍 Like | ❤️ Favorite | |
|---|---|---|
| What it's for | Showing a photo you enjoy within an album | Saving a photo to your own Favorites |
| What it does | Helps decide the album's cover and the "Top" order | Adds it to the Favorites tab on your profile |
They're separate — liking doesn't favorite, and favoriting doesn't like.
Cover photos
An album's cover (and its thumbnail on your Home screen) is its most-liked photo. If there's a tie, the most recent one wins.
Signing in#
A quick intro on first launch, then sign-in. Halarta is private — you're always signed in to use it.
First-launch intro
A short, four-slide walkthrough covers what Halarta is, how it works, how it handles location and your data, and an optional opt-in to share anonymous usage data (you can change this later in Settings). You can step through it or skip straight to sign-in.
Ways to sign in
- Continue with Google.
- Continue with email — tap to expand the email and password form. New here? Switch to Create account and pick a display name.
- Email me a sign-in link — sign in without a password; we email you a link to tap.
- Forgot password? — we'll email you a reset link.
A new email account confirms its address before entering the app, and if your account doesn't have a display name yet, we'll ask for one — that's the name shown on your posts. You can read the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy any time from the links on the sign-in screen.
After you sign in
You land on Home, and a short guided tour points out the main areas. You can replay that tour any time from the info button on Home.
Home#
Your feed: a strip of your albums up top, and photos from all of them below, newest first.
Your albums strip
A scrolling row of every album you belong to, ordered by most recent activity. Each shows the album's top photo and its name, with a bright outline when it's live and a dimmed one when it's closed. Tap one to open it.
The photo feed
Every photo from your albums, newest first. Switch between two layouts with the toggle in the header:
- Card view — one photo per row with who posted it, when, the album name (tap it to open the album), and buttons to favorite, like, and comment.
- Grid view — a compact four-across grid; tap any photo to open it.
Tap a photo to open it full-screen, where you can react, comment, or jump to its album.
If you own an album, photos that have been reported show a small badge so you can review them — only you see it.
Albums#
Everything you've created or joined, in three views you can switch between.
Three views
- List — a row per album with its cover, name, icons, live/closed badge, photo and member counts, and time remaining for timed albums.
- Grid — the same details as cards, two across.
- Map — place-based albums shown as pins; tap a pin to open that album. A note tells you how many albums aren't on the map because they have no location.
Sort & filter
Tap Sort & Filter to order albums by activity, name, members, photos, status, or time left, and to show all albums or just the ones you created. Your choice is summarized under the header (e.g. "Activity · All").
In card view you can also turn on Previews to show a few recent photos on each album card instead of a single cover.
Nearby#
Discover public, place-based albums happening around you.
The map
Shows your location and nearby public albums as pins, each with a circle marking its area (green when it's open). When pins overlap they group into a cluster — tap it to see the albums inside.
The list
Below the map, the same albums as a list with each one's cover, name, photo and member counts, and how far you are from its edge. A badge tells you whether you can post:
- Post ✓ — you're inside the area and can add photos now.
- X ft / mi closer — how much closer you'd need to get to post.
Tap any album to open it. Use Sort & Distance to change the order and how far out to look (5–50 mi).
Adding photos#
Tap the + button in the center of the navigation bar from any screen.
The + menu
From Camera
Take a new photo right now.
From Device
Choose one from your photo library.
New Album
Start a brand-new shared album (see Creating an album).
Choosing an album
After you take or pick a photo, choose which album to add it to. The list shows albums you can post to right now:
- Live albums you're a member of.
- Your own albums, even if they're closed.
- Place-based albums — these appear when you're inside their area.
Search by name to find one quickly, pick an album, then tap Post Photo. You'll see upload progress and a confirmation, and you stay right where you are.
Creating an album#
A few quick steps from the New Album option in the + menu.
1. Details
- Name your album.
- Choose a type — Invited + location, Invited, or Public + location (see which fits your event).
- Set the duration — how long it stays open for photos: 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, 30 days, or never. Public place-based albums can also be created already closed, so only you can post.
2. Pick a location
For place-based albums, set the area on a map — drag to position it and pick a size that matches your venue, from a small house party to a whole neighborhood, or set a custom radius.
3. Share
Your album is created and you get a share link to send to invitees, with a choice of how long the link stays valid. You can also share via your device's share sheet, a QR code, or email — then open your new album.
Inside an album#
Everything in one album. What you can do depends on whether you own it or joined it.
The photos
Photos are shown with the first one large and the rest in a grid. A heart badge shows a photo's favorite count. Tap any photo to open it. Switch to the map view to see photos as pins where they were taken.
Sorting
Tap Sort to order by Top (most liked) or New (default), or to show only your photos or only others' photos.
Your sharing
Open Your sharing to control, for this album only, whether your name and avatar appear on your posts and whether your photos show their location on the map. Only you can see and change these.
Album info & members
The info button shows the album's details — type, counts, who created it, and your sharing settings. From here owners can edit the album and members can leave it. The members button lists everyone in the album with their avatar, name, photo count, and when they joined. Owners can remove a member from here.
Sharing the album
Use Share to send people to the album with a link, a QR code, or email.
Editing an album#
Album owners can edit from the album's info screen.
- Rename the album.
- Open or close it. Closed albums only accept photos from you; re-opening lets you set a new end time.
- Set a new duration from now while it's open.
The album type can't be changed after creation. You can also delete the album — this can't be undone, though anyone who posted to it keeps their own photos in their profile.
Viewing a photo#
Open any photo to see it full-screen with its comments and reactions.
The photo
The header shows who posted it and when, with the album name on the photo (tap it to open the album). Use the arrows to move to the previous or next photo. If the person who posted has hidden their identity for this album, they show as Anonymous.
React & comment
Below the photo, favorite it to save it to your profile or like it. Add a comment at the bottom; you can edit or delete your own comments from the ··· menu on them.
The ··· menu
- On your own photo: delete it (it stays in your profile's Photos).
- If you own the album: remove someone else's photo, or remove the member entirely.
- Anyone can report a photo that breaks the rules (see Reporting).
Reporting#
If a photo or comment breaks the rules, you can flag it for the album owner to review. (You can't report your own content.)
How to report
Open the ··· menu on a photo or comment and choose Report. You can optionally pick a reason (spam, harassment, nudity, violence, or other inappropriate content) and add a note, then submit. You'll get a quick confirmation and stay where you are.
If you own the album
You'll see which photos and comments have been reported, with a count. Open one to review it, then dismiss the report if it's fine, or remove the photo or member if it isn't.
Your profile#
Your photos, your activity, and your account.
At a glance
Your avatar, name, email, total photos, and number of albums. A toolbar gives you Feedback, Settings, and Sign out.
Three tabs
Photos
Everything you've posted, across all albums, newest first. View as a list or grid.
Favorites
Photos you've saved with the heart, most recent first.
Comments
Comments you've left, with a link to each photo. Tap one to jump back to it, or use its menu to delete it.
Settings#
Opened from your profile.
Privacy defaults
Set how you appear when you join new albums — you can always override these per album. There's a group per album type, each with two switches:
- Show my name and photo — your display name and avatar appear on your posts.
- Show photo locations — your photos appear as pins on the album map.
| Album type | Show name & photo | Show photo locations |
|---|---|---|
| Invited + location | On | On |
| Public + location | Off | On |
| Invite-only | On | Off |
Location
Precise GPS tagging takes a fresh, most-accurate location for every photo (using a bit more battery). See Location & privacy for the full picture.
Data & analytics
Share anonymous usage data — which screens you visit and actions you take, never your photos or personal details. It's off unless you turn it on.
Legal
Links to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Deleting your account
Under "Delete account", you can permanently delete your account and all the photos and comments you've posted, across every album. This can't be undone.
Location & privacy#
How Halarta uses your location, and how you stay in control of it.
What location is used for
- Finding albums near you on the Nearby screen. Used to search, then discarded.
- Confirming you're at a place-based album before you add a photo there.
- Tagging a photo with where it was taken, so it can appear on the album map. This one is saved with the photo.
Only the last — tagging — saves a location that others might see, so that's the one with a clear, always-visible control when you post.
Saving vs. showing
Saving a photo's location and showing it to others are two different things. Hiding a location in your settings means other people won't see the pin — it's about who can see it, not about turning the camera into a tracker. You control who sees your photo locations with the "Show photo locations" settings (overall and per album).
Permission
Whenever Halarta needs your location, it explains why first and then asks — you can allow or decline. Turning on one location feature doesn't quietly enable the others. If you've blocked location and later want it, you can re-enable it in your browser's site settings and try again.
Where to control it
- Settings — your defaults for tagging and for nearby/place-based features.
- When you post — the location chip turns tagging on or off for that photo (on regular albums).
- Inside an album — "Your sharing" overrides your defaults for just that album.
Have a question this guide doesn't answer? Use Feedback on your profile to reach us.