Backdrop
Creative
live wallpaper app
SHOW HN2025
82points
56comments
#868of 3,837 in 2025
Top 23%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
3 positive, 13 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 9 critical, out of 27 comments about the project. Thread score -0.18.
Idea: 1 for, 5 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good work and a useful solution for Mac customisation
From 3 comments
This is awesome, nice work! Next, can you please reverse engineer spaces (multiple desktops) so we can rename them? Desktop 1, Desktop 2 etc is not very useful.
cloudking on HNHi Oskar, I'm a big fan of TrimEnabler since my Hackintosh days. Sensei looks great but since I already have iStat and thought buying another status menu app would be redundant.…
yardie on HNTo me it's a bit too expensive for what it provides, so I'll probably not buy it. However I must agree that the hacks on the internet with renaming videos doesn't work very well,…
jaimehrubiks on HN
Objections
Too expensive for what it provides
From 2 comments
To me it's a bit too expensive for what it provides, so I'll probably not buy it. However I must agree that the hacks on the internet with renaming videos doesn't work very well,…
jaimehrubiks on HN$45 or a monthly subscription for a feature that should be possible out of the box. I will simply never understand the allure of Apple products.
squigz on HN
Long-term reliability across macOS updates is uncertain
From 2 comments
> The core technical challenge, as you can imagine, came from trying to do something that Apple otherwise does not allow I think the main question most would ask is what…
iKlsR on HNWhat happens to purchasers if/when apple update MacOS and this no longer works?
Dennip on HN
Not on the App Store
From 1 comment
Hi Oskar, I'm a big fan of TrimEnabler since my Hackintosh days. Sensei looks great but since I already have iStat and thought buying another status menu app would be redundant.…
yardie on HN
Requests
Support 5K/6K wallpapers
From 1 comment
Hi cindori, I couldn't figure these out without purchasing: 1. Does Backdrop plan to support 5K/6K wallpapers? Those resolutions are pretty standard for Mac workstations. 2. Is…
iscoelho on HN
Hide the notch like TopNotch
From 1 comment
Hi cindori, I couldn't figure these out without purchasing: 1. Does Backdrop plan to support 5K/6K wallpapers? Those resolutions are pretty standard for Mac workstations. 2. Is…
iscoelho on HN
Grey or plain backgrounds
From 1 comment
Very cool and nice solution. I personally need to have a grey background though, no photos etc. Elaborate colors are just overstimulation.
sgt on HN
Questions
Will it keep working after macOS updates?
From 2 comments
> The core technical challenge, as you can imagine, came from trying to do something that Apple otherwise does not allow I think the main question most would ask is what…
iKlsR on HNWhat happens to purchasers if/when apple update MacOS and this no longer works?
Dennip on HN
How the reverse engineering works and which tools are used
From 2 comments
What's reverse engineering like on a Mac? Have you ever written about it? I had a lot of experience reverse engineering things on windows (win32 + x86, before 64bit was a thing)…
doix on HNWhat were some of the technical challenges you experienced while reverse-engineering the wallpaper system? I've been reverse-engineering (for lack of a better term) some of…
pm on HN
Alternatives named
Renaming Apple's video files (hack)
From 1 comment
Worth mentioning that if you want a free way to do this that does not require running additional software. All you have to do is have a video you want to use, download one of…
nerdjon on HN
Aerial screensaver
From 2 comments
I'm pretty sure I do this on my mac using Aerials. Is your way different from this? https://aerialscreensaver.github.io/
millzlane on HNAwesome stuff ! I've been trying to make a library/cli to set the wallpaper/screensaver to use in the next version of Aerial (https://github.com/AerialScreensaver/PaperSaver) on…
cwizou on HN
Plash
From 1 comment
https://github.com/sindresorhus/Plash
purplecats on HN