Screen Saver reverts to National Geographic

I can't help wondering whether the powers-that-be at Apple ever visit the Apple Support Communities and read these comments.

I've restored my computer to an earlier time, using 10.10.2 and have iPhoto back. I will NOT install 10.10.3 until it is all sorted.

In saying that I have made my feelings known to Apple Support and very happy to see my own screen saver when I switch on each morning. 🙂

People at Apple to reply to some posts.

At any rate, some people *should* be checking its site - and Apple *should* acknowledge problems and respond to them. Consumers should matter.

That said, I hate when I have things set up around old software, which gets replaced, breaking what I've been doing. For example, the way I used iPhoto was to create a new event with the name of the year and month - or with the name of a vacation or something.

And on my iDevices, I had it synchronize with events of the last 6 months.

The new Photos app won't let me do this.

Maybe it's because I'm old. Every change in iTunes has made it harder to use. Maybe these changes are designed to make me subscribe to Apple services. But instead they alienate me.

On May 20 I responded to one of these discussions that I had found a solution. (Now I can't find my message.) I had deleted a hard to find file called "default screensaver collections" and for 4 days I saw nothing of National Geographic, just my photos. Then suddenly Nat Geo reappeared. Sorry if I misled anyone. But this suggested another solution. The screensaver ap, called BOINCSAVER, must be looking for 1-National Geographic, and if it does not find it, it creates a new one. So I went to find the software, and, sure enough, there was the notice "this does not work on IOS X. (only partially true: it later says it works up to IOS X-7) So I downloaded a new (free) version of BOINC. It has a different look but no National Geographic, and so far so good. Try boinc.berkeley.edu.

MPG38.

I think a far more relevant question is why anybody should have to do this at all.

This is very strange.

I thought I had solved the problem when I found a file called Default Screensaver Collections, which contained a file 1-National Geographic with no photos in it; I had removed them earlier with the only effect that the screensaver said ”no photos.” I deleted this folder and for four days I saw no sign of Nat Geo. Then suddenly it was back, once again with no photos. That suggested that the app that runs the screensaver looks for 1-National Geographic, and if it does not find it, it creates one, empty. I found the app, called BOINC, and went to the website to reinstall it. There I learned that the app on my computer does not work for IOS X. I downloaded the latest version, dated March 2015, but the **** thing went right back to Nat Geo. I was prepared to call the company after Memorial day, but this morning, again, no sign of National Geographic and everything is working as desired with the new version of the app. Stay tuned.

Every solution listed since last November is at best only a temporary solution — I’ve tried them all. However, if you consider the demise of iPhoto in favour of the Photos App in the latest updates (10.10.x) of Yosemite, herein lies the solution.

If your screen saver uses an Album or folder that gets photos from iPhoto, you will continue to have this problem of reversion to the NatGeo default screen saver because iPhoto is less than 100% compatible with OS X Yosemite 10.10.3. If you change your screen saver to select an Album from the new Photos App which is 100% compatible, the problem goes away entirely. Hope this is helpful.

I have now been using my own chosen Photos Album Screensaver for over 2 weeks without a single reversion. It’s completely stable. Before, it was reverting to NatGeo every day, usually several times a day.

P.S. Although I preferred iPhoto in the past, it seemed inevitable that I would have to fully change to Photos given that iPhoto is no longer supported, so that’s what I’ve done.

I have Photos v. 1.0 and an iMac with OS v. 10.10.3 and pe1's solution has not helped. May work for a day, but then I get the dreaded "no photos" black screen.

Apple appears to be too busy making money to deal with this issue which has been going on for a year or more.

Sorry it’s still a problem for others, that’s too bad. It’s worked for me (so far). Good luck.

It's almost a solution for me. Nat Geo is not to be seen and the screensaver is fine for about 2 days. Then suddenly there is a new 1-National Geographic with no photos, evidently put there by the app. I switch back to my photos and Nat Geo disappears--for about another two days. Then repeat. I am trying to call the BOINC Berkeley, but have no reply yet. Weird.

This has my experience as well. This is trying my patience, is it a test?

Yes, I'm going to post this issue even though multiple others have done so because I want apple to see it again and again; and I encourage others to post this again and again until we get a resolution.

I've reported to support and via the feedback route with no help or acknowledgement that there is a problem.

The screensaver constantly reverts back to National Geographic no matter how many times I change it to my personal photos. Various people have this same issue starting with the very first version of Yosemite.

Where is the fix?

Why hasn't Apple addressed this or at least responded to all the people in the forums?

This has been going on for months and all the people who post fixes or workarounds are trying to help us, but their fixes/workarounds eventually revert back to National Geographic no matter what we do.

Some of the feedback I've seen from other users and websites include deleting the default folders, writing some code inTerminal in order to clear the default, and manually moving my pictures to the National Geographic folder and deleting the ones already in there (which seems to work for some people). I will not move my photos to the National Geographic folder because I have thousands in my "favorites" folder in the Photos app (by the way, which I don't find to be as good as the previous version - iPhoto). Plus, I want the new photos I deem to be a favorite to also be included in the screensaver rotation without me having to manually add more photos to the National Geographic folder every time; not to mention that this will take up more room in memory and hard drive space. I've tried everything else and it always revert back after a day or so (with or without restarting/rebooting).

Will Apple please acknowledge the issue and finally provide a fix?

iMac (24-inch Early 2009), currently using OS X Yosemite (10.10.3) but it has happened since the very first version.

APPLE people, please know that your lack of acknowledgement of the issue makes me want to save my money next time and buy a cheap PC I can replace it new every few years instead of paying your ridiculous prices/fees with no support for your software malfunction. Yours was supposed to be a better product with little to no virus issues; it sure used to be, but not anymore.