SaverDesktop 1.1
Run your screen saver on the desktop without the usual compromises.
Free
SaverDesktop 1.1
Run your screen saver on the desktop without the usual compromises.
Free
Background
Some, but not all, people know that Mac OS X has the ability to run screen savers on the user’s desktop although it’s not a publicized or particularly supported behavior. It also has some quirks. I created SaverDesktop as an adjunct to a screen saver module I was working on to work around the following shortcomings of the stock tool:
Launching the built-in mechanism by hand requires typing in a lengthy path pointing into /System, which is Apple’s playground (and thus subject to change).
A double-clickable, universal AppleScript that invokes that tool (to avoid the typing) consumes more disk space than SaverDesktop.
The built in screen saver engine has an inconvenient habit of quitting - even when running in background mode - if the user reconfigures the screen saver or moves their mouse to the “Disable” hot corner.
Usage
Put the SaverDesktop application anywhere you like and double-click it. If you’d like it to automatically run at login, you can use the Accounts page of System Preferences to set it up as a login item. If you’d like to stop the backgrounder, you can run the included StopSaverDesktop utility.
Support
Comments and suggestions can be set to support@splook.com.
License
SaverPreview is donationware and not disabled in any way. If you find it entertaining donations are happily accepted via PayPal (to gweston@mac.com) or paper mail: