Screen saver broken in Monterey

Sorry, my response included details related to another Monterey problem (with Logic, part of another forum thread). With regard to the screen saver problem, I am still getting intermittent fluorescent green screens instead of my folder containing a black jpg. I'm on 12.1 with MBP 16" M1 Max.

I've just gotten Catalina on a new Mac. The screensaver would work when I directed it to a picture file through Finder. But to save space I have migrated all my photos via a photos library onto an external hard drive. I can get there with the screen saver but I can't choose that library. Would like this solution to continue to save space on the Mac HDD.

I was able to do that, but no photos show when I preview. Could it have something to do with cloud settings? When I selected to set the external disk library as the system library I thought it warned me about photos on the cloud. I don’t want to store photos on the cloud so I disabled that setting. I feel like I’m closer! BTW, I do have the newest update if that matters.

Yes, that's exactly the issue I still have. My photos show up in their original unedited form. Screensaver did it in Big Sur, still doing it with the latest Monterey. Also reported to Apple, who seem to break "Use your own photos for screensaver" with almost every new OS, each time in a different and newly creative way. <sigh>

Mac user since 1988, but Apple seems to have become a worshipper of "change for the sake of change," something as simple as changing the desktop picture, if a new customer were asking me if I should go Mac or Windows, I would seek to avoid answering the question, ease of use is dropping with every new "operating" system. disrespect intended !

" That problem was fixed with the release of Monterey 12.1 update". NO, NOT TRUE, I HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO GET MY IMAC DESKTOP PICTURE BACK. I believe that Apple has fallen into the "change fore the sake of change" trap. If something works, LEAVE IT ALONE. Changing desktop pictures has never been a problem until Monterey!! Last trouble free system was Catalina.

Monterey 12.1 fixed the problem of the screensaver not working at all. It has not, however, fixed the problem that if your photos are edited, they show up in the screensaver in their unedited form. This issue was first seen in Big Sur, and has not yet been fixed. The only other software involved is Photos, which last I checked, was, errr, an Apple programme.

Please don't patronise people who have genuine OS issues in your efforts to protect the aggrandising monster that Apple has become. The fact that Apple are trying to offload systems checks onto individual customers via a third party app says quite a lot about how much they care about these issues. If they had pride in their software, they would do these things themselves.

The fact that it's not working for you doesn't mean the basic, underlying reason it didn't work hasn't been fixed. It works for me with edited or unedited photos. It didn't before the last update.

So if you'll get that chip off your shoulder and provide the info requested we can see if we can determine why your setup isn't working as it should.

No, not a chip. Almost every OS update has broken the screensaver for the user's own photos in some way or other, and I've been a Mac user since 1991. I'm just getting a bit tired of it. And you're still being patronising. Please stop.

I want to add a few extra details. I have a brand new Macbook Air M1 running Monterey 12.1, and every time I try to set my screensaver to any of the Photo options, my computer becomes unresponsive and Force Quit pops up saying "Your system has run out of application memory. Switching back to one of the non-Photo options eliminates this problem. If I leave my screensaver set to Photos and select Preview my Mac it will crash and return a panic watchdog timeout error upon rebooting.

Blindranger wrote:

I have nearly 100k photos, I LOVE how the screensaver randomly brings back memories from my life, journeys, and adventures.

I have no trouble using my photos with the screensaver, but

a) I have a lot less of them; and

b) they are stored locally, and not in iCloud.

I wonder if one or both of the things above are contributing the problems that some are experiencing.

I have over 100 gb of photos as well and love to watch my life pass before my eyes without being near death. When I purchased my new Mac mini I opted for external storage of the photos folder. Obviously now spending $200 more for additional storage on the Mac would have made this go away at least for awhile. I think it works fine if there is pictures folder.

Unfortunately it doesn't for me. All on-machine storage, 2000 photos in the folder. Screensaver shows photos (since 12.1) but ignores edits. People are reporting such a wide range of issues this time, and no consistency.

Just updated to Monterey 12.2.

settings>screensaver you can see the pictures in “photos” but no photos load to screensaver. Does it work if you rent photo space on the cloud? Maybe 12.3 will have the magic!

Unfortunately, my screensaver folder is already in My Albums. My photos do appear now (fixed by 12.1), but anything I've edited still appears in its original unedited form. This has been happening since Big Sur.

There are so many ways in which screensaver+Photos is broken (see this thread) - it works for some people, and of those with problems, it's as if no two people have exactly the same issue(s).

Why they mess with this bit of the system is a mystery, but they seem to break it with pretty much every new OS, in my (quite long) experience.