Download a New Version of the Best Screensaver for Mac – Aerial
I am very excited to see the new version of Aerial because it really is the best macOS screensaver you can get – with ScreenMazer in second place. This is because Air allows you to turn your Mac or MacBook into Apple TV of sorts by showing great Apple videos streaming using the box as a screen saver.
And since Apple has just released 11 more beautiful marine videos, now is the perfect time to grab the new version of Aerial and enjoy the new content. But that’s not the only major change you’ll find in version 1.7.0 of Aerial .
Before we get started, know that you should definitely download this latest Aerial if you’ve upgraded to macOS Catalina. The launch of Aerial 1.6.0+ not only unlocks HDR playback, but the only way to get video with tvOS 13. Most importantly, earlier versions of Aerial don’t work on macOS Catalina, period.
It’s also important to know that macOS Catalina also breaks some of Aerial’s more useful features, like its auto-update tool. Until a workaround is found, you will have to manually update Aerial whenever a new version is released. Likewise, Catalina users cannot skip various videos by using the right arrow key on their keyboard.
After Aerial is installed, unzip the archive and double-click the Aerial.saver file. This will install the screensaver on your system and automatically open the Desktop & Screensaver preferences window. Press Antenna to select it, and then you can click Screen Saver Options to customize it. If this field is grayed out, as I did in the beginning, close the Desktop & Splash Screen and reinstall Aerial by double-clicking the file again.
On the first screen, you’ll get a list of all the different tvOS videos that you can watch as part of the splash screen. Uncheck all the boxes you don’t want to see, or click the plus sign inside the circle to upload your favorites to your system. Clicking on the gear icon in the bottom left corner allows you to quickly change your playlist to include only the videos you’ve downloaded or just Apple’s 4K suggestions. (You can also use the same menu to load everything with one click.)
You can also specify which video format you want to use – with some handy suggestions available if you click “?” to the right of the drop-down list, and also specify if you want the screensaver to automatically turn off if you’re on battery power (or low).
If you have multiple displays connected to your Mac, the Displays tab of the same name will allow you to sync the videos that are playing between all of them. On the Info tab, you can customize your own messages that will appear when you turn on the screensaver (or just the clock / your location / battery life). By the way, use the Time tab if you only want Aerial to display certain videos during daytime or nighttime – or depending on whether you’re using your Mac’s light or dark mode .
You can use the Brightness tab to automatically dim your Mac after the screensaver starts. And if you have your own videos that you want to integrate into Aerial, you’ll know where to put them in the Cache tab (if you haven’t already used the Video tab> gear icon> Custom Videos setting to point to specific folder on your disk)). Yes, it’s a ton of screensaver options, but that’s partly why Aerial is one of the best (free) ones you can drop on your Mac.