Screen Savers in macOS Tahoe 26 Developer Beta

[XMI]

There's no longer a Screen Savers pane in System Settings.

Instead, you go to Wallpaper. Within that, there is a "Screen Saver..." button.

This is confusing, as the placement of the button seems like it's a setting that gets applied to the selected wallpaper.

Even worse, once you click it, it opens a small modal dialog window.

Inside that is the old Screen Savers setting pane. This window is small, non moveable and non resizable.

This is not an improvement. Change for change's sake?

Dammit Tim Apple!

 

[Think creative]

What are the new wallpapers? Just the one they showed in the keynote that I see in your image, or is there more new wallpaper?

 

[jz0309]

There's no longer a Screen Savers pane in System Settings.

Instead, you go to Wallpaper. Within that, there is a "Screen Saver..." button.

View attachment 2517787

This is confusing, as the placement of the button seems like it's a setting that gets applied to the selected wallpaper.

Even worse, once you click it, it opens a small modal dialog window.

Inside that is the old Screen Savers setting pane. This window is small, non moveable and non resizable.

This is not an improvement. Change for change's sake?

Dammit Tim Apple!



View attachment 2517781

this is the first beta - why not provide constructive feedback to Apple???

 

[XMI]

I probably will give apple Feedback, but they are notorious for ignoring these sorts of things.

They will sometimes fix bugs, but this isn't really a bug per-se, more of a poorly-designed UI change, and I've never had good luck getting Apple to pay attention to those.

 

[nnauq]

What are the new wallpapers? Just the one they showed in the keynote that I see in your image, or is there more new wallpaper?

They usually add those further down the (beta) line.

 

[Pudlo]

There's no longer a Screen Savers pane in System Settings.

Instead, you go to Wallpaper. Within that, there is a "Screen Saver..." button.

View attachment 2517787

This is confusing, as the placement of the button seems like it's a setting that gets applied to the selected wallpaper.

Even worse, once you click it, it opens a small modal dialog window.

Inside that is the old Screen Savers setting pane. This window is small, non moveable and non resizable.

This is not an improvement. Change for change's sake?

Dammit Tim Apple!



View attachment 2517781

and you can't set a screen saver as a wallpepaer any more ;(

 

[inequals]

View attachment 2517787
View attachment 2517781

OMG WTF is that!? this is the first thing I've seen that's made me much less excited to try out the beta. I got a feeling they were trying to de-emphasise screensavers, at one point there were scant justifications for actually using them but I think with the rise of OLED displays and the general heterodox landscape (and portraits, teehee) when it comes to displays, monitors, TVs they once again provide a very important function, in some cases saving people serious money and hassle by preventing burnin.

So sometime before Sequoia I was pleased to see that Screen Saver was elevated a principal preference - people like to customise and personalise their computers it is actually a very important feature to get right. Not that Apple has a long track record of allowing us to personalise their operating systems, but you take my point...

tl;dr: anyway THIS IS UGLY AND DUMB, WAAAH WAAAH ME WANT actual innovation and refinement AND MY TEDDY

actually coming to think about it, they've been neglecting the underlying screensaver engine as well. They need to provide a proper API for screeensavers, I think there's a market - it would be so cool to get Themes like a package of (moving, dynamic, smart) wallpapers, widgets and lock screens - I would pay money for decent theme packs, that are based on proper high res assets like the videos which became the screensavers on TV and now the active wallpapers etc.

 

[XMI]

they've been neglecting the underlying screensaver engine as well

Yes, and no - there is a new screensaver engine, but it's private and only Apple can use it.

Any third-party screensaver software has to use the old legacyScreensaver engine, which is notoriously buggy.

 

[inequals]

yeah I should have said the underlying engine that devs can actually use. It's painful seeing all the screensavers I love, particularly Aerial, have to go through legacyScreensaver. I mean, they may as well call it "GetBentWeHateYouScreensaverEngine"