How live wallpapers work on Mac

A live wallpaper animates while your Mac desktop is visible. In Dioramac, that might mean sailboats crossing a bay, animals passing through a forest, or koi swimming through a garden pond. Move a desktop icon and the landscape can reshape around it.

How Dioramac follows your desktop layout

Try moving a folder on your main display. In Beach, an island can follow the folder. In Forest, the trees part to make a clearing around it. Dioramac uses Finder to locate the icons on your Mac. It never reads their names or file contents or sends them to a server.

Follow the Dioramac setup steps to choose a scene and allow Finder access. If your icons are automatically sorted or stacked, switch to a manual layout so the scene can follow them.

When Dioramac’s animation pauses

Dioramac uses Apple’s Metal graphics technology to draw its scenes. It stops drawing when the desktop is covered, the screen sleeps, or the Mac locks. When the desktop is visible again, the animation resumes.

To keep the scene still, choose Pause Animation from the Dioramac menu bar icon. Dioramac also follows the Mac’s Reduce Motion accessibility setting.

What macOS offers on its own

In System Settings → Wallpaper, Apple’s Dynamic Wallpapers change with the time of day or offer light and dark appearances, depending on the wallpaper. Aerials can use the same scene for your desktop background and a slow-motion screen saver.

See the steps to change your Mac wallpaper or check Apple’s Wallpaper settings guide for options specific to your version of macOS.

Make the scene easy to work with

Leave an open stretch of desktop where you want to watch the scene. Try putting everyday folders together along an edge, and use Finder’s view options to give your labels more space.