diff --git a/web/packages/base/http.ts b/web/packages/base/http.ts
index d926037445..31006064ad 100644
--- a/web/packages/base/http.ts
+++ b/web/packages/base/http.ts
@@ -35,9 +35,24 @@ export const publicRequestHeaders = () => ({
  */
 export interface PublicAlbumsCredentials {
     /**
-     * An access token that does the same job as the "X-Auth-Token" for usual
-     * authenticated API requests, except it will be passed as the
-     * ""X-Auth-Access-Token" header.
+     * [Note: Public album access token]
+     *
+     * The public album access is a token that serves a similar purpose as the
+     * "X-Auth-Token" for usual authenticated API requests that happen for a
+     * logged in user, except:
+     *
+     * - It will be passed as the "X-Auth-Access-Token" header, and
+     * - It also tells remote about the public album under consideration.
+     *
+     * This access token is variously referred to as the album token, or the
+     * auth token, when the context is clear. The client obtains this from the
+     * "t" query parameter of a public album URL, and then uses it both to:
+     *
+     * 1. Identify and authenticate itself with remote (this header).
+     *
+     * 2. Scope local storage per public album by using this access token as a
+     *    part of the local storage key. In this context it is sometimes also
+     *    referred to as a "collectionUID" by old code.
      */
     accessToken: string;
     /**
diff --git a/web/packages/new/albums/services/public-albums-fdb.ts b/web/packages/new/albums/services/public-albums-fdb.ts
index 6e031fc815..8980a65932 100644
--- a/web/packages/new/albums/services/public-albums-fdb.ts
+++ b/web/packages/new/albums/services/public-albums-fdb.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
  * @file Public albums app specific files DB. See: [Note: Files DB].
  */
 
-import { LocalCollections } from "ente-gallery/services/files-db";
+import {
+    LocalCollections,
+    LocalEnteFiles,
+    transformFilesIfNeeded,
+} from "ente-gallery/services/files-db";
 import { type Collection } from "ente-media/collection";
+import type { EnteFile } from "ente-media/file";
 import localForage from "ente-shared/storage/localForage";
+import { z } from "zod/v4";
 
 /**
  * Return all public collections present in our local database.
@@ -29,3 +35,35 @@ export const savedPublicCollections = async (): Promise<Collection[]> =>
  */
 export const savePublicCollections = (collections: Collection[]) =>
     localForage.setItem("public-collections", collections);
+
+const LocalSavedPublicCollectionFilesEntry = z.object({
+    /**
+     * The collection, identified by its access token.
+     *
+     * See: [Note: Public album access token]
+     */
+    collectionUID: z.string(),
+    files: LocalEnteFiles,
+});
+
+type LocalSavedPublicCollectionFilesEntry = z.infer<
+    typeof LocalSavedPublicCollectionFilesEntry
+>;
+
+/**
+ * Return all files for a public collection present in our local database.
+ *
+ * Use {@link savePublicCollectionFiles} to update the database.
+ *
+ * @param accessToken The access token of the public album whose files we want.
+ */
+export const savedPublicCollectionFiles = async (
+    accessToken: string,
+): Promise<EnteFile[]> => {
+    type ES = LocalSavedPublicCollectionFilesEntry[];
+    // See: [Note: Avoiding Zod parsing for large DB arrays] for why we use an
+    // (implied) cast here instead of parsing using the Zod schema.
+    const entries = await localForage.getItem<ES>("public-collection-files");
+    const entry = (entries ?? []).find((e) => e.collectionUID == accessToken);
+    return transformFilesIfNeeded(entry ? entry.files : []);
+};
diff --git a/web/packages/new/photos/services/photos-fdb.ts b/web/packages/new/photos/services/photos-fdb.ts
index 836ca4159b..8c549c2a2c 100644
--- a/web/packages/new/photos/services/photos-fdb.ts
+++ b/web/packages/new/photos/services/photos-fdb.ts
@@ -154,6 +154,9 @@ export const savedCollectionFiles = async (): Promise<EnteFile[]> => {
     // As an optimization, we skip the runtime check here and cast. This might
     // not be the most optimal choice in the future, so (a) use it sparingly,
     // and (b) mark all such cases with the title of this note.
+    //
+    // Note that the cast is happening inside the local forage code since we're
+    // passing a type parameter.
     let files = (await localForage.getItem<EnteFile[]>("files")) ?? [];
 
     // Previously hidden files were stored separately. If that key is present,