Screen Saver no longer works on MacOS 11.4

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Screen Saver no longer works on MacOS 11.4

MacOS 11.4 no longer allows "Source: PHOTOS" to be used on SCREEN SAVER, when KEN BURNS or CLASSIC method is chosen. I have tested it on iMac, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, so it is the MacOS that is "broken", not individual computers having lack of memory or some other issue(s).

Why can't Apple go all-out to make Photos work super well for Screen Savers, including lots of features that used to work, but no longer work, in Screen Saver (like going BACK to a prior photo to see it, using the arrow keys)? Bolstering Apple's Screen Saver would GREATLY increase the sales of Apple computers used in kitchens and family rooms as a way to display ALL photos within someone's archives of pictures as a backdrop in those rooms. If Apple needs to hire a Manager to spearhead this effort, I am available.

Brad Bishop’s MacBook Pro 16"

Posted on Jun 21, 2021 7:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,705 points

Jun 21, 2021 8:06 AM in response to Azakmaractron

It is working for me with Ken Burns or Classic selected.

First I set the Source to "Photos Library", then have a cup of coffee while waiting for system photos library to open and to show the list of albums.
Then I select an album from the list of albums.

I can also select the complete Photos item, but it will take hours for the selection to be confirmed and would not be feasible, as the library has more than 50000 photos. I prefer to select an album with handpicked favourite photos for the screensaver.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,705 points

Jun 21, 2021 9:13 AM in response to Azakmaractron

If you cannot get any longer to the option to select any other albums at all, because your library is so large, you may want to try to trash the screensaver preferences files from the Library > preferences in the user library in your home folder ~/Library.

I removed the following files from the user library folder

all files in ~/Library/Preferences with screensaver in the name
all files in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost with screensaver in the name

After that, the Source menu has no longer been busy.

I do not want to be surprised by potentially embarrassing photos, so I prefer curated albums with a screensaver selection.

My bone to pick with the screensaver in Big Sur is, that the screensaver is no longer showing the edited version but the unmodified originals. This particularly annoying with Photos that need rotating upright into the portrait orientation, but the screensaver is showing the unrotated original.

What I am missing most, compared to the screensavers in older versions, is the ability to see some metadata with a photo. It would be great to see the filename, the date, the location, the title as a caption to the displayed photos. And I second your request to be able to use the arrow keys to pause the screensaver and go back to the previous photo.

You may want to use the feedback form to file a feature request: https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

197,705 points

Jun 25, 2021 11:14 PM in response to Azakmaractron

as this is a user to user forum, and we are users like you, we are not able to support your job application. You will have to contact Apple directly. (https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/policies/ideas.html)

The current built-in screensavers are all disappointing, as we cannot even see the iPhone Live Photos properly animated or Portrait Mode photos with the lighting effects, the videos do not play, and no metadata is displayed, so we have no way to find back to a photo we are seeing in the screensaver. why sell us devices that can take fascinating Live Photos and Portrait Mode photos and video clips, if we can neither use them properly in our screensaver nor in slideshow presentations? Why allow us to add metadata, if they cannot be used in the presentations?

I am currently using "ArtSaver.app" as a screensaver. (http://www.cs.uni-bremen.de/~zach/software/ArtSaver/index.html) It also does not support the new iPhone formats, but at least I can display some metadata with the photos and we can step the photos. Or I am starting an Apple Script to present photos as a slideshow.

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Answer 4

Jun 25, 2021 8:50 PM in response to léonie

I have no filenames in my ~/Library/Preferences folder with the name "screensavers" (nor similar).

I have no "MyHost" folder, anywhere.

Can you imagine the day using Screensaver when you could:

look at ALL of your 100,000+ photos/videos via Screensaver
see a pic you want to edit, go to that photo, edit it, or delete it (need keystroke to go directly to that pic in PHOTOS)
change TAGS on photos (so you could HIDE certain "embarrassing" photos, as you put it)
HIDE all documents and receipts that you took photos of to resolve purchase-returns, taxes, etc.,
Be able to permanently Rotate photos
see all panoramic photos as they scan across your big screen
view all of your VIDEOS from within Screensaver that you took on your iPhone
turn sound ON/OFF for each video so that it does not conflict/overlay with background music playing (e.g. as a slideshow)
We used to be able to go "Back" and “Forward” to previously shown photos using the ARROW KEYS … when will this useful, but now broken, feature by fixed? On new MacOS's, when you hit the Back-Arrow, ScreenSaver is exit'ed instead of going Back to the prior photo.
Photos are not displayed randomly (currently, it only sorts thru some subset of saved photos), so what is the general algorithm used to select photos? I want to point the Screen Saver to randomly show ALL 100,000+ photos I have in PHOTOS on my Apple/Mac. How?
Be able to set the time between pics displayed (any number of seconds, minutes, hours, days)
Be able to set the length of time that Screensaver stays ON without going to Sleep.
Need ability to display the filename of each pic on the Screen Saver (so we know which photo needs editing/deleting)
Where is the documentation for SCREEN SAVER?
When lots of photos are stored in iCloud, the Screensaver has trouble downloading the high-res versions of each photo prior to displaying them. They need to queue up by downloading far enough ahead of time, so that they are not displayed as low-resolution photos (which occurs now). The same for videos being pre-downloaded from iCloud to the Screensaver, so that they do not freeze prior to playing.
If the above features cannot be enabled because of "Security Issues" from within MacOS (that is my assumption), then move Screensaver outside of the MacOS as a standalone App that CAN BE feature-rich, without jeopardizing the security issues of entering MacOS. For example, being able to hit an arrow-key while MacOS is running Screensaver and go directly to the photo/video in the external PHOTOS app ... is likely a security risk for a hacker to take advantage.

I have left feedback on the Apple link you have shown, with no responses (e.g. Apple Support Log #: 722500720, Apple Case Number: 100934579760, Apple Case Number: 100945685456, etc.). In fact, since Screensaver started downhill with broken features about 7 years ago, more-and-more features are now broken. It is getting worse, not better.

P.S. I want to go to work for Apple as their "Product Manager" for the Screen Saver app to get it optimized with the above-listed features (and a lot more, requested by customers, as Steve Job used to pitch as being #1 product-driven decision-making). I'm in my 60's, so I would get it done FAST! Apple would sell thousands/millions more computers for Kitchens and Family Rooms, worldwide, if they would just fix this one key App (Screensaver) then promote it.

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Answer 5

Jun 21, 2021 8:34 AM in response to léonie

Historically I have had "Source: Photos" pre-selected. If that is what WAS selected, I can no longer change it to Albums or other options. The option "Photos" is still in there and the up/down arrows are not selectable. I have tried to wait days (not just hours) for the Photos to be confirmed and used. I would prefer to just select Photos and get random pics from all my 100,000+ photos and videos to play on the screensaver. The "random" showings are not random ... "Random" is broken, too. I understand that you are willing to select a subset of your library of photos, i.e. one Album at a time. Painful. Plus, I can't get to that option. haha. It's flat-out broken on so many levels. My guess is that Apple fired the dept that set up Screensaver (due to all the problems with it) and now it's not being fixed or prioritized by anyone at Apple. Sad.

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Screen Saver no longer works on MacOS 11.4

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