Note: The ENS App and ENS Explorer are both currently on Sepolia testnet. Behaviour and available features may change before mainnet.
When you connect a wallet to app.ens.dev, the App creates a Smart Account paired with your wallet, then sets up Smart Sessions so that account can sign ENS actions for you without a wallet popup each time.
What is a Smart Account?
A Smart Account is a separate account the App makes when you first connect. It has its own address, shown in your dropdown as Address, and it signs your ENS actions.
Your wallet and the Smart Account are paired but separate, so the address in your dropdown is the Smart Account's rather than your wallet's. Connect with the same wallet and you get the same Smart Account back.
What are Smart Sessions?
Smart Sessions are how the App signs in the background: your Smart Account signs ENS actions without prompting your wallet at every step. Press BUY NAME or Save Changes and the rest just happens.
Smart Session Active shows in your dropdown. The toggle beside it is a status indicator, not an off switch.
How do they get set up?
Connect a wallet and two prompts appear:
Enable Smart Sessions. Press
ENABLE SESSIONSand confirm in your wallet. This is a transaction, not a free signature: it sets up the signing and funds the Smart Account with a little ETH for gas. Keep a small ETH balance before you start.Verify your wallet. Optional and free. Press
Sign in with Walletfor notifications and favourites, or skip it.
After that, ENS actions go through silently.
Common questions
What does my wallet still ask me to sign?
Enable Sessions, once on a fresh connection. This is the transaction described above, so it costs gas.
Sign-In with Ethereum, once per session, optional and free. It proves you own the wallet and writes nothing onchain.
Do I still control my name?
Yes. Your wallet stays the owner of any name you register, and names stay registered to your wallet address. The Smart Account can only act on names you own. It holds the test tokens the App uses on Sepolia plus enough ETH for gas, and nothing else.
Can I turn Smart Sessions off?
There's no off switch. Disconnecting your wallet resets the approval, and the prompt appears again next time you connect, so disconnect and reconnect is how you clear it and set it up again. Disconnecting doesn't change what you own.