How to set up live wallpapers on your Mac

1. Install

1. Download LiveWall for Mac
2. Open the downloaded LiveWall-….dmg from your Downloads folder.
3. Drag LiveWall onto the Applications folder shortcut beside it.
4. Eject the LiveWall disk (click ⏏ next to it in Finder's sidebar). You can delete the .dmg.

2. First launch: "Open Anyway"

LiveWall is free and isn't signed with a paid Apple developer certificate, so the first time you open it macOS stops it and says Apple "could not verify" it. That's expected, and you only do this once.

1. Open Applications and double-click LiveWall.
2. When macOS says it can't verify LiveWall, click Done, not "Move to Trash".
3. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security.
4. Next to "LiveWall" was blocked to protect your Mac, click Open Anyway, then enter your password or use Touch ID.
5. Click Open Anyway once more in the dialog. LiveWall starts and its window appears.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LiveWall.app

LiveWall turns on Launch at Login the first time it runs, so it's there after a restart. macOS shows a notification saying so. Change it any time from LiveWall's menu-bar menu.

3. Get wallpapers

Your library starts empty, in ~/Movies/LiveWall. Three ways to fill it:

From this website

1. On the gallery, tick the circle on any wallpapers you like (or open one).
2. Click Add to LiveWall. Your browser asks to open LiveWall; click Open LiveWall (tick "Always allow" so it doesn't ask again).
3. The wallpapers download into your library, with progress in the Dynamic Island. If nothing was playing, the first one starts.

Inside the app

Choose Online Gallery in LiveWall's sidebar and click Get on any wallpaper.

Your own videos

Drop any .mp4, .mov or .m4v into ~/Movies/LiveWall, or click the folder button at the top left of LiveWall's window to use a different folder. New files appear straight away.

4. Using LiveWall

• The first time you open LiveWall, a full-screen welcome helps you pick a wallpaper and set things up. Skip it any time with Esc, and replay it from the menu bar (Show Welcome…).
• The menu bar icon (top right) is LiveWall's home: pause/resume, next wallpaper, speed, power saving, the Dynamic Island switch, launch at login, and Wallpaper Controls… to open the window. Closing the window doesn't quit LiveWall.
• Click a wallpaper in the library to use it. Hover a tile for a live preview.
• Fill / Fit / Stretch and Span Screens are in the toolbar; the Your desktop card shows exactly what they'll do on your monitors.
• Speed: the slider under the wallpaper's name slows it down or speeds it up; each wallpaper remembers its own speed.
• Tags: right-click a wallpaper to tag it; tags appear in the sidebar.
• Saving power: the wallpaper pauses by itself when it's hidden (fullscreen apps, covered screens), in Low Power Mode and when your Mac runs hot. To also pause on battery: menu bar → Power Saving → Pause on Battery.

5. The Dynamic Island

A small black pill at the top of your main screen. On a MacBook it grows out of the notch; on an external monitor it attaches to the top edge. It shows, most important first:

• AI activity: Claude Code and ChatGPT/Codex working, needing you, or done. Click one to go back to its chat or terminal.
• Plan limits (off by default): how much of your Claude and ChatGPT limits you've used, and when each resets.
• Music playing in Spotify or Apple Music, with artwork and controls.
• Your wallpaper, with pause, shuffle and speed.

Hover over it to expand it. To turn it off, or choose what it shows, use the Dynamic Island button in LiveWall's toolbar (or Show Dynamic Island in the menu bar menu).

To see your plan limits, turn on Claude & ChatGPT plan limits under Track in the same menu. LiveWall reads the figures Claude Code and Codex already keep on your Mac, so there's nothing to sign in to. They update each time you use Claude Code or Codex.

6. Optional permissions

LiveWall works without any special permissions. Two features ask for one when you first use them:

• Music controls: the first time you press play/pause/skip in the island, macOS asks if LiveWall may control Spotify or Music. Click Allow. (Showing what's playing needs no permission.)
• Claude app chats: off by default. To show Claude desktop-app chats in the island, turn on Claude app chats in the Dynamic Island menu, then allow LiveWall in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. LiveWall only looks for the app's Stop button; it never reads your messages.

Because LiveWall isn't developer-signed, macOS forgets the Accessibility permission when you install an update. Turn it back on in the same place afterwards.

7. Claude Code in the island (optional)

If you use Claude Code, add these hooks to ~/.claude/settings.json (merge them into any "hooks" you already have). The island will show when Claude is working, needs your approval, or has finished, in the terminal and in the Claude app's Code tab.

{
  "hooks": {
    "UserPromptSubmit": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "async": true,
      "command": "/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-claude-hook prompt" }] }],
    "Notification": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "async": true,
      "command": "/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-claude-hook notify" }] }],
    "PostToolUse": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "async": true,
      "command": "/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-claude-hook resume" }] }],
    "Stop": [{ "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "async": true,
      "command": "/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-claude-hook stop" }] }]
  }
}

Then type /hooks in Claude Code once (or restart it) so it picks them up. The hook uses jq, which is built into macOS 15 and later.

ChatGPT and Codex need no setup. LiveWall reads their session logs in ~/.codex automatically.

/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-activity running "Rendering video" --source "My Tool" --id render
/Applications/LiveWall.app/Contents/Resources/scripts/livewall-activity done "Render finished" --source "My Tool" --id render

8. Updating

1. Download the latest version from the gallery page.
2. Quit LiveWall: menu bar icon → Quit LiveWall.
3. Drag the new LiveWall into Applications and choose Replace.
4. Open it. You may need Open Anyway again, and to re-allow Accessibility if you use it.

Your wallpapers, tags, speeds and settings are kept.

9. Uninstall

1. Quit LiveWall from its menu bar icon.
2. Drag LiveWall from Applications to the Bin. Its login item is removed with it.
3. Optional: delete your wallpapers in ~/Movies/LiveWall, remove LiveWall from Privacy & Security → Accessibility, remove the Claude Code hooks, and clear its settings with defaults delete com.arthurhinton.LiveWall.

10. Troubleshooting

"LiveWall is damaged and can't be opened"

The download's quarantine flag is confusing macOS. Run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LiveWall.app in Terminal, then open it again.

There's no "Open Anyway" button

It only appears for about an hour after you try to open LiveWall. Double-click LiveWall again, click Done, then go straight to Privacy & Security.

"Add to LiveWall" does nothing

LiveWall must be installed in Applications and opened once (past the Open Anyway step) before your browser knows about it. If your browser blocked the prompt, look for a notice in its address bar.

I can't see LiveWall in the menu bar

When the menu bar is full, macOS hides icons behind the notch. Hold ⌘ and drag other icons out to make room, and check LiveWall is allowed in System Settings → Menu Bar. Opening LiveWall from Applications always shows its window.

My desktop is black or the wallpaper isn't moving

Check the menu bar icon: the top line says why it's paused (fullscreen app, Low Power Mode, battery, heat, or paused by you). Choose Resume Wallpaper if you paused it.

I can't see the Dynamic Island

On an external monitor it hides when nothing's happening, so move your pointer to the very top-centre of the screen to reveal it. Make sure Show Dynamic Island is ticked in the menu bar menu.

Claude app chats don't show in the island

Turn on Claude app chats in the Dynamic Island menu and allow LiveWall under Privacy & Security → Accessibility (re-allow it after every update).

Where are my files?

Wallpapers: ~/Movies/LiveWall (or the folder you chose). Tags: categories.json in that folder. Settings: ~/Library/Preferences/com.arthurhinton.LiveWall.plist.