MacOS Live Screensaver A macOS screensaver that plays live video streams. Supports YouTube videos and direct HLS streams. Also available: Android TV Live Screensaver Turn any live stream into your screensaver/lockscreen. Some examples: Requirements macOS Swift compiler (Xcode Command Line Tools) yt-dlp (optional, for YouTube support) Disclaimer: This project was entirely vibe-coded. I've never written Swift before in my life. Note: This was tested exclusively on macOS Tahoe on an M2 MacBook. Your mileage may vary on other versions/hardware. Installation Install yt-dlp (for YouTube support) Using Homebrew: brew install yt-dlp Or using pip: pip install yt-dlp Build and Install Build and install: make install Or step by step: make build open build/LiveScreensaver.saver Other commands: make clean # Remove build directory make uninstall # Remove screensaver from ~/Library/Screen Savers/ make start # Trigger screensaver immediately Usage Open System Preferences → Screen Saver Select Live Screensaver Click Options to configure Enter a video URL: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID (live streams only) HLS stream: https://example.com/stream.m3u8 Note: Only live YouTube videos are supported. Regular (non-live) YouTube videos will not work. Note: macOS screensaver UI can be buggy. If the Options button is unresponsive, try closing and reopening System Settings. PRs welcome for anyone who can figure out why. Troubleshooting YouTube videos don't play: Make sure yt-dlp is installed and in your PATH Verify you're using a live YouTube stream - regular videos are not supported Black screen: Wait a few seconds for loading, or try a different URL
First seen: 2025-10-24 12:36
Last seen: 2025-10-24 21:42