Enjoy Apple TV 4 screensavers on Mac OS X with Aerial
If you want to enjoy the new screensaver from the fourth-generation Apple TV on your Mac, you might think it’s not possible. So far, there hasn’t been any way to set them as your Mac’s screensaver. Courtesy of developer John Coates, now there’s a screensaver for the Mac that utilizes those exact videos.
Image credit: JohnCoates/Aerial
Coates’ screensaver, called Aerial, is available for free from the developer’s Github repository. All you have to is install the screensaver and then choose it in System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver. It’s not signed by an identified developer, so you’ll have to allow the installation in Security & Privacy. Once installed and enabled, you can choose which videos to show and which to disable.
All told, there are 34 different videos from China, Hawaii, New York, London, and San Francisco. The videos appear to stream from Apple’s site instead of being bundled with the screensaver, probably to avoid copyright infringement and keep the file size reasonable. Because of this, you’ll see some network traffic if you choose to enable the screensaver.
It’s terrific that an enterprising developer has created a way to enjoy these screensavers on the Mac desktop. The videos are stunning, and make an excellent montage when you aren’t using your desktop or MacBook. Aerial is written in Swift, so you’ll need OS X Mavericks or above to run it. Once again, you can download Aerial from its Github repository.