Guide · Phosphene
Live wallpaper on Mac, free
How to set any video as a live wallpaper on a Mac, on the desktop, the lock screen and as the screen saver, with the free, open-source app Phosphene, and how the paid alternatives compare.
Published · Updated . Prices and requirements are as stated by each app's own page on the update date.
How do I set a video as my Mac wallpaper?
macOS plays Apple's Aerials as live wallpapers but has no button for a video of your own. Phosphene, a free, open-source app, adds one: import a video into its library, then choose it in System Settings → Wallpaper. macOS plays it on the desktop and the lock screen, can use it as the screen saver, and keeps playing it after you quit Phosphene. It runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 26 Tahoe or later.
Steps
- Install Phosphene. Run
brew install --cask phosphene, or download it free from kagerou.glass/get/phosphene. - Add a video. Open Phosphene's Library window and import a video. MP4, MOV, HEVC, H.264, ProRes and any other format the Mac can decode will work.
- Choose it in System Settings. Open System Settings → Wallpaper. Phosphene's videos appear beside Apple's own wallpapers. Choose one.
- Set displays, Spaces and the screen saver. Each display and each Space can have its own video. The video can also be the screen saver, and a Lock Screen mode plays it only when the Mac is locked.
Which app to use
Phosphene is the free, open-source choice for macOS 26 and later. On macOS 14 or 15, Backdrop and Wallper are paid alternatives with their own wallpaper catalogs. Plash shows a website on the desktop rather than a video file. For Wallpaper Engine's Steam Workshop wallpapers, see Wallpaper Engine on Mac.
| App | Price | License | Lock screen | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phosphene | Free | MIT | Yes | macOS 26 or later; Apple silicon or Intel |
| Backdrop | Free with 3 watermarked wallpapers; US$1.99/month, $14.99/year or $29.99 lifetime | Proprietary | Yes | macOS 15 or later |
| Wallper | From US$14.99, after a 7-day trial | Custom | Yes | macOS 14.6 or later |
| WallpaperMachine | Free | GPL-3.0 | Experimental, off by default | macOS 15 or later; Apple silicon |
| Plash | Free | Source public, no license | No | Shows a website, not a video file |
| Wallpaper Engine | Paid, on Steam | Proprietary | Not on Mac | Windows; no immediate plans for Mac |
Questions
Does a live wallpaper drain the battery?
Phosphene pauses or reduces work on battery, when the screen dims, when windows cover the desktop, under thermal pressure and during Game Mode, and stops entirely after 30 seconds of inactivity.
Does the video keep playing after I quit the app?
Yes. macOS plays the wallpaper itself, through the same system pipeline as Apple's Aerials, so it keeps playing with Phosphene closed.
Can I use my own video as the screen saver?
Yes. Choose the Phosphene video as the screen saver in System Settings → Wallpaper.
Does it work with several displays and Spaces?
Yes. Each display and each Space can have its own video.
Is it really free?
Yes. Phosphene has no paid tier and its source code is published under the MIT License on GitHub.
Is there a catch?
Phosphene uses a private Apple framework, so a macOS update can require a compatibility fix.