iScreensaver Designer 6 Release Notes


iScreensaver Designer 6 Release Notes


Release Note Summary

Version 6.8.8.1369 - Released 23 Jan 2024
Version 6.8.7.1368 - Released 16 Jan 2024
Version 6.8.6.1367 - Released 15 Oct 2023
Version 6.8.5.1360 - Released 14 Oct 2022
Version 6.8.4.1356 - Released 12 Jun 2022
Version 6.8.3.1351 - Released 17 Nov 2021
Version 6.8.2.1350 - Released 13 Sep 2021
Version 6.8.1.1349 - Released 08 Sep 2021
Version 6.8.0.1348 - Released 27 Aug 2021
Version 6.7.1.1345 - Released 08 Aug 2021
Version 6.7.0.1343 - Released 30 Jul 2021
Version 6.6.1.1340 - Released 17 Feb 2021
Version 6.6.0.1338 - Released 02 Feb 2021
Version 6.5.0.1330 - Released 25 Jun 2020
Version 6.4.0.1310 - Released 20 Feb 2020
Version 6.3.0.1307 - Released 20 Jan 2020
Version 6.2.0.1301 - Released 11 Oct 2019
Version 6.1.0.1298 - Released 26 Aug 2019
Version 6.0.4.1291 - Released 24 May 2019
Version 6.0.3.1290 - Released 17 May 2019
Version 6.0.2.1288 - Released 13 May 2019
Version 6.0.1.1286 - Released 06 May 2019
Version 6.0.0.1284 - Released 04 May 2019
Version 6.0.0.1282 - Released 27 Apr 2019
Version 6.0.0.1276 - Released 15 Apr 2019



Version 6.8.8.1369 - Released 23 Jan 2024

iScreensaver version 6.8.8 has a number of bugfixes and improvements, including fixes for several critical issues that prevented screensavers from working under macOS 14 Sonoma, and fixes potential problems on Windows as well. Authors distributing screensavers for macOS or Windows clients should update, re-build, and re-distribute their screensavers.


macOS Sonoma bug fixes

  • macOS Sonoma: the screensaver could show an orange “Syntax Error” message in System Settings. Fixed.

  • macOS Sonoma: videos would fail to play. Fixed.


Windows and older macOS bug fixes

  • On a very slow-running PC or Mac, the screensaver could get in a mode where it ceased to function or behaved strangely. Fixed.

Improvements

  • Improved the visual smoothness when loading complicated GLTF/GLB models.

Multi-monitor synchronization issues

  • Fixed several bugs affecting video synchronization when a screensaver included a separate Audio sequence.

Version 6.8.7.1368 - Released 16 Jan 2024

iScreensaver version 6.8.7 has a number of small bugfixes, primarily when authoring on Windows OS. Authors encountering any issues noted below should upgrade and re-build their screensavers. Other authors can upgrade at their convenience.

Note: if you are supporting screensavers on macOS Sonoma, you must upgrade to 6.8.6 or later for Sonoma support.


iScreensaver Designer

  • When changing the image compression settings, sometimes the image height would be incorrect. Fixed.

  • The “slide” visual effect was not working. Fixed.

  • Improved detection of panorama pictures.

  • Improved Thumbnail generation when running on Windows OS.

  • Re-opening a project window will now open in the same location on macOS.


Codesign and Notarization


Version 6.8.6.1367 - Released 15 Oct 2023

iScreensaver version 6.8.6 has a number of bugfixes and improvements, including fixes for several critical issues that prevented screensavers from working under macOS 14 Sonoma. Authors distributing screensavers for macOS clients should update, re-build, and re-distribute their screensavers. Authors only supporting Windows clients can upgrade at their convenience.


macOS Sonoma Screensaver Installation

  • The iScreensaver installer now functions properly on Sonoma: the screensaver is installed and selected as the active screensaver.

Notes:

  • during installation on Sonoma, a new permissions prompt will show up, as permission is necessary to change the screensaver settings after installation. Declining permission will cancel the installation.

  • the macOS Sonoma System Settings / Screen Saver pane has been redesigned. After installation, your custom screensaver will show up in the bottom ‘Other’ section. You may need to click ‘Show All’ to see it.

  • In macOS Sonoma, it’s possible to choose a different screensaver and wallpaper for each screen. During installation of a custom iScreensaver, the screen saver and wallpaper settings are set to “Show on all Spaces” so that all screens will use the newly installed screensaver. After installation, you are free to re-customize each screen.

  • Installing a screensaver that contained a wallpaper image would fail upon the second installation. Fixed.

  • During installation, the installer will attempt to kill any stuck legacyScreenSaver processes, which could be left over from running third-party screensavers (including iScreensaver 6.8.5 or older). This is due to bugs in macOS Sonoma which have been reported to Apple.


macOS Sonoma Screensaver Operation

  • iScreensaver-built screensavers are now compatibile with macOS Sonoma, with some known issues/limitations:
  • video and animation playback may be slightly less smooth and/or use slightly higher CPU on macOS Sonoma, due to several bugs in the OS, which have been reported to Apple.

  • the HUD (Heads Up Display) is not functional on macOS Sonoma. We are working towards making the HUD work again on Sonoma but do not have an estimate of how long it may take. Note that you can use the HUD when previewing the screensaver from the installer.


iScreensaver Designer

  • A few cosmetic improvements when running in dark mode on macOS.

  • When loading a project with missing files, after relocating the files, some of the interna, project data would still point to the old file location. Fixed.


Version 6.8.5.1360 - Released 14 Oct 2022

iScreensaver version 6.8.5 has a number of bugfixes and improvements, including fixes for several issues that could cause issues when running under macOS Ventura 13 (currently in beta, soon to be released) Authors distributing screensavers for macOS clients should update, re-build, and re-distribute their screensavers. Authors only supporting Windows clients can upgrade at their convenience.


macOS Ventura

  • iScreensaver, the screen saver installer, now properly opens the newly Ventura ‘Screen Savers’ panel of the renamed “System Settings” app.

  • The ‘System Settings’ app’s ‘Screen Savers’ panel on Ventura has a new size for previewing screen savers. Adjusted some UI features to fit.

  • Screensavers on Ventura would exit upon any mouse movement, preventing HUD use. Fixed: iScreensaver on Ventura can now use the optional HUD (Heads Up Display) and have a visible cursor, which can be used to select onscreen controls (Play, Pause, Mute, Navigate to another item…)

Note: due to bugs in macOS Ventura, on a system with more than one monitor, the HUD only works on the last monitor. Also, fast mouse movement can still exit the saver, so use the HUD with gentle mouse movements. We are reporting these issues to Apple an hope they will be improved or fixed in a further release of macOS.


General

  • when using the HUD, the HUD and mouse cursor could hide even while moving the mouse. Fixed: the HUD and mouse pointer will only hide 5 seconds after the mouse has stopped moving.

Designer

  • Adding an audio file (MP3, M4A etc…) to the Audio track of a screensaver project could cause Designer to crash, and/or prevent building the screensaver. Fixed.

Known Issues

  • On certain macOS versions, on certain macOS computers (those with dual GPUs: an integrated iGPU and a more powerful dedicated dGPU), screensavers may (a) run with poor performance or (b) fail to start, resulting in a blank screen. The behavior depends on the version of Safari that is installed - 13.x is OK, but 14.x and 15.x have issues. Safari 16 solves these issues - however, only macOS Monterey and later can run Safari 16.

The problem is generally not seen when the more powerful dGPU is active or when Safari is at version 16 or higher. This does not affect the new Apple Silicon (M1 or M2) CPUs and GPUs which do not have multiple GPUs.

Recommendations:

  • upgrade to macOS Monterey (12) or higher
  • In System Preferences, turn off “Automated Graphics Switching” which will favor the dGPU (note: this can reduce battery life on portable machines)
  • plug in a second monitor (which will switch to the dGPU)

Version 6.8.4.1356 - Released 12 Jun 2022

iScreensaver version 6.8.4 has a number of bug-fixes and improvements, including several bugs that could cause playback failure on multi-monitor macOS Apple Silicon / M1 systems or the macOS Ventura 13.0 beta. Authors who are building screensavers that may be encountering any of these issues should update, re-build, and re-distribute their screensavers.

Windows:

  • Screensaver Installer: cosmetic improvements so button highlighting is more visible in the screensaver installer on Windows 11.
  • Screensaver Installer: improvements to the screensaver uninstaller when run from the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
  • Improved the performance and reliability of screensaver playback when using many short videos

MacOS:

  • On macOS Monterey (12.x) there is an OS bug where the System Preferences / Control Panel Preview content would be missing. Reported to Apple, and fixed with a workaround.
  • Fixed a crashing bug affecting screensavers on an Apple Silicon/M1 mac with 2 or more monitors, where screensaver would abruptly stop playing. This bug was sporadic, often not showing up for several hours.
  • In macOS Ventura Beta 1 on a multi-monitor system, iScreensavers would not play back. Fixed.
  • On a Mac with 2 GPUs, due to a recent Safari/Webkit bug, animation playback could use the weak integrated GPU (iGPU) rather than the stronger Dedicated GPU (dGPU). This would result in a low frame rate. Fixed: we now specify the “high-performance” GPU.
  • on Apple Silicon / M1 Macs, screensavers now default to 60fps animation rate (up from 30fps)
  • installing a screensaver on macOS 10.11 would fail to open the System Preferences window upon installation. Fixed.

General:

  • Designer: improved reliability of grabbing thumbnails from video files.

Version 6.8.3.1351 - Released 17 Nov 2021

iScreensaver version 6.8.3 fixes an issue that could cause screensaver installers to crash silently on macOS non-English language systems (such as Korean). It also has improved error reporting, and has been tested with the latest versions of Windows 11 and macOS 12.1 Monterey. Any authors distributing screensavers to non-English macOS users should update and rebuild as soon as possible, and other authors are encouraged to update and rebuild when convenient.


Version 6.8.2.1350 - Released 13 Sep 2021

iScreensaver version 6.8.2 includes more fixes for video playback when using the HUD (Head’s Up Display) onscreen controls, improves the reliability of grabbing Thumbnail icons from video and GLB/GLTF files. It also includes small fixes in preparation for macOS Monterey and Windows 11 (both of which are in beta).


Version 6.8.1.1349 - Released 08 Sep 2021

iScreensaver version 6.8.1 fixes a bug that would prevent screensavers from working on the M1/Apple Silicon macs. It also contains workarounds for some bugs we are seeing in the early Beta builds of macOS 12 Monterey. All iScreensaver authors are advised to upgrade iScreensaver Designer, re-build, and re-release their screensavers for their macOS customers.

Improvements/New Features:

  • Screensavers built with 6.8.0 would not work on M1 macs. Fixed.

  • Improved reliability of creating image and video thumbnails.

  • macOS Monterey 12.0 Beta Issues:

Please note that macOS Monterey is in beta. We are seeing quite a number of issues and bugs in this new OS. We expect some of these will get fixed before Apple’s official release; for others, version 6.8.1 includes bug-fixes and/or workarounds that fix, or improve the following issues:

  • Previewing from the Installer would not fill the screen on macOS Monterey.

  • [Known Issue] Video playback is inconsistent in macOS Monterey. We have made improvements to address most of the issues, but it’s still possible to cause videos to get stuck or go invisible if you use the HUD to forward/reverse quickly.


Version 6.8.0.1348 - Released 27 Aug 2021

iScreensaver version 6.8 continues with improvements in a number of areas. However, the changes are solely within the Designer app and do not affect built screensavers or installers so you can upgrade when convenient (assuming you have already upgraded past 6.7 to ensure compatibility with Big Sur and Monterey).

Improvements/New Features:

  • Metadata: the actual media creation timestamp is now used instead of the file creation date, so your image captions can show the time the picture was taken (rather than when the file was imported or edited).

  • Caption Variables improvements:

  • %date% now defaults to the Media Creation date, but falls back to File Creation Date if missing.

  • %dateTime% is new, and now shows the timestamp in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format

  • List view has a new Date column:
  • in list view, right click the header to enable it
  • to enable it in new projects, go to Designer/Preferences/Defaults/List View Default Columns, and set it there.
  • Sequence Sort: A new command “Edit / Reorder Items” allows you to sort items by date, location, filename, caption, description, title or kind (movie/image). There’s also a “reverse” option which reverses the order of the currently selected items.

  • Drag & Drop issues: fixed a number of bugs with Drag & Drop not working in macOS Catalina and higher.

  • Thumbnail generation for videos and movies is more reliable on macOS Catalina and higher.

  • Photos.app integration:

  • Importing LivePhotos from Photos.app now gets the correct filenames for the image/movie pair when using the newer HEIC format.

  • fixed several bugs with Photos.app integration.

  • Helper Apps were failing to launch on macOS Catalina and higher, leading to lower performance while editing or building.

Version 6.7.1.1345 - Released 08 Aug 2021

iScreensaver version 6.7.1 is a small point release that has several bug-fixes related to Metadata in photos (Location, Title, Description). If you are using photos (either through Photos.app on macOS, or just plain images from your camera) and are encountering any problems building or deploying, we encourage you to upgrade, re-build, and re-distribute.

Important: If you have not yet upgraded to 6.7, you should consider this a mandatory upgrade if you have any macOS clients, as version 6.7 and higher fix a bug where screensaver may stop working when a user updates to macOS Monterey, or macOS Big Sur 11.4 or higher. Therefore, all iScreensaver authors are advised to upgrade iScreensaver Designer, re-build, and re-release their screensavers for their macOS customers.

Changes and Improvements:

  • Bad metadata (such as ASCII 0, NULL) in Title, Description or Location could lead to a screensaver which built successfully, but would show “Error loading module: null” when launched. Fixed.
  • Copy & Paste (or Drag & Drop) from Photos.app to Designer on macOS: if the file processing operation took over 10 seconds, and the photo library was updated during this time, iScreensaver Designer could hang. Fixed.

Version 6.7.0.1343 - Released 30 Jul 2021

iScreensaver version 6.7 improves compatibility with Windows 11, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 12 Monterey, and the new M1 “Apple Silicon” CPUs.

Important: Due to new macOS bugs, screensavers that were working may stop working when a user updates to macOS Monterey, or macOS Big Sur 11.4 or higher. Therefore, all iScreensaver authors are advised to upgrade iScreensaver Designer, re-build, and re-release their screensavers for their macOS customers.

  • iScreensaver 6.7 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave, Catalina 10.15.7, Big Sur 11.5.1, and Monterey 12.0 beta 4), Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903 through 21H2), and Windows 11 (21H2 beta 22000). iScreensaver Designer, the built screensaver installers, and installed screensavers are fully compatible with Apple’s M1 macs running under Rosetta emulation.

Changes and Improvements:

  • macOS 11 (Big Sur) and 12 (Monterey): Fixed a problem which could lead to the following symptoms:
  • Installed Screensavers would show a blank screen.
  • In Designer, the Preview window would open as a blank window, and thumbnail icons could be missing.
  • Photos.app integration improved, adding compatibility for macOS Big Sur (11) and Monterey (12).

  • On macOS, caching improvements reduce the amount of disk space used inside ~/Library/Caches/

  • Windows 11: Visual glitches in Designer fixed.

  • Windows: iScreensaver Designer now properly installs to the 64 bit Program Files folder

  • Screensaver preferences: Added new Highest and Lowest mouse sensitivity settings


Version 6.6.1.1340 - Released 17 Feb 2021

iScreensaver version 6.6.1 is a minor release which further improves compatibility with macOS 11 Big Sur and the new M1 “Apple Silicon” CPUs. All authors are recommended to upgrade and redistribute their screensavers at their convenience.

  • iScreensaver 6.6 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave, Catalina 10.15.6, and Big Sur 11.3 beta) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903 through 20H2). iScreensaver Designer, the built screensaver installers, and installed screensavers are fully compatible with Apple’s M1 macs running under Rosetta emulation.

  • Home License - on M1 macs, screensavers built using the Home License were not installing properly and would show as unregistered. Fixed.

  • macOS 11 (Big Sur): improved reliability when starting/stopping the screensaver.

  • macOS 11 (Big Sur): previewing the screensaver (from Designer or from a built Installer) could have Vibrancy enabled, allowing the desktop and icons to bleed through. Fixed.


Version 6.6.0.1338 - Released 02 Feb 2021

iScreensaver version 6.6 is a minor release which has multiple improvements and bug-fixes and focuses on compatibility with macOS 11 Big Sur and the new M1 “Apple Silicon” CPUs. All authors are recommended to upgrade and redistribute their screensavers at their convenience.

System Requirements:

  • iScreensaver 6.6 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave, Catalina 10.15.6, and Big Sur 11.2) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903 through 20H2). iScreensaver Designer, the built screensaver installers, and installed screensavers are fully compatible with Apple’s M1 macs running under Rosetta emulation.

Screensaver Playback:

  • Improved the quality of video effects when transitioning between images, reducing stutter and keeping a more consistent FPS (frames per second) rate.

iScreensaver Designer:

  • Improved the UI/UX when building an installer when the installer app was already open.

  • From Designer, added visual confirmation that the installer was launching.

  • Code-Signing and notarization info has been updated for Big Sur, and includes a sample shell script to sign and notarize automatically.
    See:
    iScreensaver : Code-signing, Notarization, Gatekeeper and Authenticode

  • On macOS, we are now using the default OS’s color picker window.

  • Designer: exiting full screen using the Escape (Esc) key would sometimes bounce back. Fixed.

  • Dark Mode: switching between dark & light mode was inconsistent, with some portions of windows not updating until you manually refreshed them by resizing. This was mainly seen in Big Sur but sometimes on Mojave. Fixed.

  • Improved debug logging with a 4th “verbose” level, normally hidden.

  • Big Sur: Fixed some minor UI glitches.

  • Photos.app integration under Big Sur is now working again. Drag & Drop, Copy & Paste, and metadata import are all working with the new Photos 6.0 library database format. You can alo drag & drop live photos from Photos.app to iScreensaver and it will automatically import both the image and the video file.

  • Photos.app integration: improved the reliability of importing metadata after it was changed in Photo.app.

  • Fixed a possibile crash opening an iScreensaver .isc project file while another file was in process of opening.

  • Fixed a possible crash canceling the sample file download at just the wrong time.

  • Opening a Preview window, last used at a non-100% scale, would cause a red error in the log. Fixed.

  • Preview / Run Full Screen would trigger a red error in the log if the Preview window wasn’t already open. Fixed.

  • Preview window wasn’t getting keyboard focus until clicked on. Fixed.

  • Designer/Preferences/Registration: hitting Enter or Return after pasting in the registration Code now presses the OK button for convenience.

  • Designer/Info window was opening at the wrong height. Fixed.


Version 6.5.0.1330 - Released 24 Jun 2020

iScreensaver version 6.5 is a major new release which has multiple improvements and bug-fixes. All authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution.

System Requirements:

  • iScreensaver 6.5 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave, Catalina 10.15.6, and the first Developer Beta of macOS Big Sur) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903 through 2004 Build 19041).

Multimonitor Support:

  • Screensaver playback is now synchronized on multiple monitors when possible. Sync can not be done when using shuffled or random start sequences, or on slow or old computers that lack sufficient CPU or GPU.

  • Screensaver installers can now preview on all monitors at once before installation.

  • Fixed several crashing bugs and UI glitches for screensavers on multimonitor Windows 10 systems.

  • Fixed several issues with window positioning on multimonitor Windows 10 systems using different monitor scales across screens, especially with unusual configurations (such as monitors stacked in a vertical orientation)

Screensaver Playback:

  • Improved HUD with better onscreen positioning.

  • HUD Navigator now responds to pageUp/pageDown key commands (Note: keyboard commands aren’t functional on macOS Catalina or higher).

  • Improved and tightened timing for 3D video effects.

  • Added support for PBR (physically-based-rendering) in GLTF/GLB models with corrected Gamma curve.

Designer - General:

  • Major performance improvements editing and building projects containing 1000s of items.

  • Improved metadata handling for extracting Title/Description/Location data from image files, including those with Unicode filenames.

  • When adding a large number of files, there is a progress bar that shows progress and can be canceled.

  • When adding files, they can be sorted by date or filename.

  • Improved cache management and cache-cleanup.

  • Better behavior of helper apps when grabbing thumbnails from video or GLB files.

  • The Info window is now scrollable, can be freely resized, and remembers its size and screen position.

  • Under Windows 10, the Preview window now responds to the Alt key to allow you to show/hide the menubar.

  • The Preview window can be right-clicked to get a menu of useful commands.

  • The Select Color Eyedropper tool to pick colors from onscreen has been improved.


Version 6.4.0.1310 - Released 20 Feb 2020

iScreensaver version 6.4 improves support for macOS Catalina 10.15, fixes some bugs related to building Mac screensavers on Windows, and improves behavior with the screensaver installer’s automatically-generated Zip file. All authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution.


Version 6.3.0.1307 - Released 20 Jan 2020

iScreensaver version 6.3 improves support for macOS Catalina 10.15 and import of pictures and images from Photos.app on macOS. It will now automatically import both the still image and movie file from Live Photos. It has a number of other general bug-fixes and improvements, and all authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution.

System Requirements:

  • iScreensaver 6.3 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave and 10.15.2 through 10.15.3 beta 2 Catalina) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903 through 2004 Build 19041).

Screensavers - General:

  • General bug-fixes and performance enhancements.

Designer - Live Photos Support:

  • on macOS 10.13, 10.14, and 10.15, when you drag & drop from Photos.app, iScreensaver Designer will automatically import both the still image and video file from LivePhotos.

Designer - Catalina Support:

  • Fixed a bug where a single movie file added to a sequence would not properly trigger Catalina’s “access file” permissions dialog.

Designer - General:

  • Right-clicking an sequence item in thumbnail view now properly selects the item as expected before triggering the contextual popup menu.

  • A sequence item with a blank overlay text caption could fail to display. Fixed.

  • Fixed an infrequent crash when closing the Info window after editing a 3D effect.


Version 6.2.0.1301 - Released 11 Oct 2019

iScreensaver version 6.2 focuses on support for macOS Catalina 10.15. It has a number of other general bug-fixes and improvements, and all authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution.

System Requirements:

  • iScreensaver 6.2 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 Mojave and 10.15 Catalina) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903, Build 18362).

Screensavers - General:

  • Fixed a bug that could cause an error message to show if playback speeds consistently stayed below 15fps.

Designer - General:

  • No longer requires screen recording permissions for capturing thumbnails from GLTF/GLB 3D model files.

  • Fixed some cases where icons were wrong in dark mode/light mode.

  • Building a screensaver on a system where antivirus software is malfunctioning could result in a corrupted build. This is now detected.

  • Fixed a bug that could leave a playback window open (but hidden). Now, closing the Preview window cleans up after itself properly.

Designer - Photos and Metadata Support:

  • Dragging & dropping from the new Music or TV apps in Catalina no longer fails to import the items.

  • Designer now loads title, description and location strings from items dragged from Photos.app, including the new Photos 5.0 version which shipped with Catalina.

  • Text captions default to showing %title% %description% %location% if there is any data to show.

  • Text captions automatically trim blank lines, giving a more balanced appearance.

  • There is a new Location column in list view which shows the geographic data imported from Photos.app - if you don’t see the column, Go to Preferences/Defaults/Edit then click Reset, and in an open project, right-click the list headers and click Reset or manually toggle on the Location column.


Version 6.1.0.1298 - Released 26 Aug 2019

Version 6.1 has a number of bug-fixes and improvements and all authors are recommended to upgrade and re-build their screensavers for distribution. This version focuses on compatibility with macOS 10.15 Catalina and overall stability.

System Requirements:

  • iScreensaver 6.1 has been tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.6 and 10.15 beta 6) and Windows 10 (64 bit, Version 1903, Build 18362).

Catalina Support:

  • Designer and built screensavers now support macOS 10.15. The current support is quite solid at this point and we recommend moving to iScreensaver 6.1 at this time to be ready. However, Catalina is still in beta, so some features or issues could change with the final release.

  • Catalina Known issues (as of Catalina beta 6)

  • inside the System Preferences, the Screen Saver “Preview” button only works once. This appears to be an OS bug and has been reported to Apple.

  • it’s not possible to control the screensaver using the Keyboard - arrow keys, enter key, etc. will always exit the screensaver in Catalina, regardless of HUD settings. Using the mouse to control the HUD works, however.

  • the built-in screensaver Uninstaller does not function in Catalina, but instead simply tells the user how they can uninstall directly.

Designer - General:

  • Fixed some bugs with editing multiple Text Captions at once.

  • Fixed some bugs with the display of foreground/background and mask colors in the Editor.

  • Fixed some bugs related to loading of thumbnail images when re-using items more than once in the same project.

  • Building a screensaver is more reliable, upon the first build, or when building after clearing the cache.

  • Improvements to the Column Selector (In List View - right-click the header). More columns can be selected, and when using a custom set of columns, the editor no longer gets confused. You can toggle multiple columns using the spacebar.

Designer - macOS:

  • iScreensaver Designer and the installation DMG are now code-signed with the hardened runtime and are notarized by Apple Inc.

  • iScreensaver can now read and understand HEIC image files, and will convert these to JPEG during the build.

Screensavers - General:

  • If you connected or disconnected a monitor while previewing from the screensaver installer, it could crash. Fixed.

  • If you hit Cancel during an installation, it could crash. Fixed.

  • Managed Installation is now easier to do - you no longer need to set the installationKey. See updated tech note: iScreensaver : Managed Installation

  • Improved the animation engine to keep higher frame rates, especially on slower machines with high resolution monitors.

  • Preferences & Heads-Up-Display (HUD):

  • Fixed bug with preferences not always saving on multi-monitor systems.
  • Exiting the screensaver (via mouse click or keyboard) is now more reliable and always honors the HUD settings for Spacebar and Enter key behaviors.
  • Screensavers with large sequences of shuffled items could fail to save their status. Fixed.

Screensavers - macOS:

Screensavers - Windows:

  • An internal error could trigger a never-ending set of popup dialogs. Fixed: These are now handled with a simple onscreen notification instead.

Version 6.0.4.1291 - Released 24 May 2019

Version 6.0.4 has a few bug-fixes. Authors are recommended to upgrade if any of the issues apply to them.

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5 and 10.14.6 beta 1) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)

  • Video or audio files set to play “forever” were causing the screensaver to hang. Fixed.

  • If the screensaver sequence has only a single video item, it will now loop automatically even if you don’t set the Behavior to “Play Forever”.

  • GLB (GLTF models) with internally transparent materials now render correctly.

  • Improved reliability of the Sample Project downloader.


Version 6.0.3.1290 - Released 17 May 2019

Version 6.0.3 has a few bug-fixes and all authors are recommended to upgrade.

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5 and 10.14.6 beta 1) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)

  • The author’s HUD setting will now be used, even when doing managed installations.

  • Fixes a possible crash when exiting windows screensavers on multi-monitor systems.


Version 6.0.2.1288 - Released 13 May 2019

Version 6.0.2 has a number of bug-fixes and improvements and all authors are recommended to upgrade.

  • Tested with the latest releases of macOS (10.14.5) and Windows 10 (Version 1903, Build 18362)

  • Improved reliability of installers when installing ‘for me’ or ‘for all users’ with administrator and non-administrator accounts.

  • Improved reliability of Managed Installations (see iScreensaver : Managed Installation )

  • Fixes an issue where a screensaver with unicode filename might not be selected after installation on macOS.


Version 6.0.1.1286 - Released 06 May 2019

Version 6.0.1 has a number of bug-fixes and improvements and all authors are recommended to upgrade.

  • improved reliability of installation and uninstallation behavior on Windows 32 and 64 bit systems.

  • improves consistency of author customization strings in the installer, settings, and uninstaller windows.

  • Prevents authors from adding the wrong file type for custom images, which could cause a crash.


Version 6.0.0.1284 - Released 02 May 2019

Version 6.0.0.1284 fixes bugs with “Install for All Users” including managed installations on mac and windows. A problem where the cursor would disappear when building on Windows is fixed. Builds that could fails due to missing or improper files now give a more descriptive error message. All authors are encouraged to upgrade to this version.


Version 6.0.0.1282 - Released 27 Apr 2019

Version 6.0.0.1282 includes numerous bugfixes and functionality improvements. All authors are encouraged to download and upgrade to this version.


iScreensaver Designer

  • Unicode: Numerous improvements to Unicode text handling for styled text areas.

  • Unicode: video or audio files with filenames containing Unicode characters would fail to operate properly on Windows. Fixed.

  • Info / Settings window: improved performance, fixed bugs with data sometimes not updating properly.

  • Effects: Changing the duration of a custom video effect could cause it to change speed. Fixed.

  • Sample Project: upon first run, the sample project download will be offered, and if accepted, it will automatically download, unzip, and open.


Built Screensavers

  • Playback: Performance improvements when using large images or colorization or masking.

  • Screensaver Installer: Improved responsiveness and notification messages when the internet is not reachable during installation.


Known Issues

Special characters (such as the Ampersand & and others) may cause problems when used as a filename.

Unicode: Styled text may not display properly when using Right-To-Left Unicode writing systems.


Version 6.0.0.1276 - Released 15 Apr 2019

iScreensaver Designer 6.0 is a major new release, re-engineered from the ground up to support today’s modern operating systems (macOS and Windows 10).

We will be updating these notes periodically so please check back.