The short answer. Aerial brings the Apple TV aerial footage to the Mac, which is the one most people actually want and the only one here that is a straight port of something Apple already made. Brooklyn recreates the 2018 event animation, which is nostalgia with a specific date attached. Cadran is the outlier: it renders clock faces on the wallpaper and the screensaver, so the idle screen becomes a clock rather than a picture. lo-rain puts animated rain over the desktop and the dock. The dividing question is what an idle screen is for, because a screensaver is either decoration, information, or a way to keep a display from sleeping — and these four answer three different versions of that.
This guide covers 4 screensavers for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerial | system tool | Open source | MIT | 3.6.3 |
| Brooklyn | system tool | Open source | MIT | 2.1.0 |
| Cadran | clock app | not published | not published | 1.3.12 |
| lo-rain | Mac utility | not published | not published | — |
What actually decides this
- Whether it is video or generated. A video screensaver is a file that has to be downloaded and decoded. A generated one draws every frame. The first looks better and costs more power; the second is lighter and dates faster.
- What it does to the display. A screensaver that keeps the GPU busy prevents sleep and drains a laptop. That is the point on a desktop and a mistake on battery. The power behaviour is not in the marketing copy of any of these.
- Whether it carries information. A clock face is doing a job while the screen is idle. Aerial footage is not. If the Mac is in a room where people look at it, the informative option earns its place; if it is a laptop lid, it does not.
- Where the assets come from. A screensaver that downloads video needs a source and a cache. That is a network dependency and a disk cost that a generated scene does not have, and it is the first thing to check when one stops working after an update.
- Whether it also works as wallpaper. A screensaver and a desktop background are two different surfaces that some of these tools fill with the same content. If you want both, the tool that covers both is doing two jobs for one install.
- What the unlock cost is. A screensaver that runs until you touch the keyboard delays nothing. One that fades, loads a video and then hands over to the login screen adds a second to every return to the desk, several times a day. That cost is never mentioned and it is the one you feel.
Our picks
- Aerial — Its record describes the Apple TV aerial screensaver for Mac, which is the port case. Choose it when you want the aerial footage and nothing else.
- Cadran — Its record describes rendering customisable clock faces on the desktop wallpaper and screensaver, which is the informative case. Choose it when the idle screen should tell the time.
- Brooklyn — Its record describes a screensaver inspired by the October 2018 event, which is the recreation case. Choose it when you want the specific event animation.
- lo-rain — Its record describes customisable rain over the desktop and apps with splash over the dock, which is the ambient case. Choose it when you want motion over the desktop rather than a full-screen scene.
The apps
Aerial
Aerial is a system tool for macOS. Apple TV Aerial Screensaver for Mac. It is released under MIT.
What it does. Apple TV Aerial Screensaver for Mac.
Aerial is listed with current version 3.6.3.
Full profile and verified facts for Aerial →
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a system tool for macOS. Screensaver inspired by Apple’s Event on October 30, 2018. It is released under MIT.
What it does. Doesn’t require internet connection. Homebrew support. Light & Dark theme. Select which animations you want to see.
Brooklyn is listed with current version 2.1.0.
Full profile and verified facts for Brooklyn →
Cadran
Cadran is a clock app for macOS. Renders 22 customizable clock faces on your Mac desktop wallpaper and screensaver. Its pricing is not published.
What it does. Cadran is a clock wallpaper app for Mac that renders live clock faces behind your icons, across every Space and display. Screensaver mode included.
Cadran is listed with current version 1.3.12.
Full profile and verified facts for Cadran →
lo-rain
lo-rain is a Mac utility for macOS. Create a customizable rain over your desktop and apps, with splash over the dock. Its pricing is not published.
Full profile and verified facts for lo-rain →
How to choose
- No licence fee, source available. Aerial and Brooklyn — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- Pricing not published in our data. Cadran and lo-rain — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: Aerial and Brooklyn (2 of 4).
Common mistakes
- Running a video screensaver on battery and wondering where the time went.
- Installing a screensaver that has to download its assets on a metered connection.
- Expecting a generated scene to look as good as footage. It is a different medium with a different cost.
- Forgetting that a screensaver is not a lock. The screen saver and the login screen are separate settings.
- Downloading a replacement after every OS update. Screensaver plugins are among the first things macOS breaks, and the failure is usually silent.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these screensavers?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 4 screensavers: Aerial, Brooklyn, Cadran and lo-rain. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these screensavers free?
Pricing across this group: open source (Aerial and Brooklyn) and not published (Cadran and lo-rain). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these screensavers are open source?
Aerial (MIT) and Brooklyn (MIT) are open source.
Do these screensavers support Apple Silicon?
Our data does not carry an explicit Apple Silicon statement for any app in this group, so we do not claim one. The absence of a statement is not the same as the absence of support.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
