Skip to main content
All CollectionsStudioChannels
How To Use an Embeddable Channel as a Screensaver on macOS Devices
How To Use an Embeddable Channel as a Screensaver on macOS Devices

Learn how you can use ScreenCloud's embeddable channel as a screensaver for your macOS device.

Updated over a month ago

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_4.45.59_PM.png

Please note, using this feature requires you to be on an upgraded pricing tier plan. You can click here to view the ScreenCloud pricing page for more information.

Please note, this is currently not available for screensaver functionality with Windows OS devices. This instruction guide is only for macOS devices.

1. Create a channel and activate the embeddable feature

1.1. In order to use this feature, you must create a channel and activate it to be used as an embeddable channel. Please note, the embeddable channels feature is a premium upgrade to your ScreenCloud account. You can click here to view the ScreenCloud Embeddable Channel guide for more information.

1.2. If the feature is already activated on your account, hover over the channel you would like to use as your screensaver and select the "Share" icon.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_12.42.17_PM.png

1.3. A pop-up window will prompt with options for which Spaces (e.g. teams) you can share this channel to within your ScreenCloud account and the "Share with others" option. Navigate to this section.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_12.45.45_PM.png

1.4. Using the "Share with others" option, select the drop-down menu and activate the embed code by selecting either "Anyone with the link can view" or "Anyone in your X account can view". For this, you can use the "Anyone with the link can view" in order to use it on macOS as your screensaver from the computer without requiring a login.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-27_at_4.34.48_PM.png

1.5. Next, use the "Copy" option. This is the link we will use to integrate the embeddable channel as your screensaver for the macOS device. Once the link is copied, we can proceed to download the application required to display your screensaver.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_12.48.36_PM.png

2. Download the WebViewScreenSaver app to your macOS device

2.1. Please click here to view WebViewScreenSaver which can be downloaded publicly and securely from Github. Please note, this is a third-party application non-affiliated with ScreenCloud but can be used to integrate custom screensavers or content from the web to display on your macOS device in screensaver mode. Click on the "ZIP" file available for download as highlighted below.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.14.03_PM.png

2.2. Once the file is downloaded, you can open the ZIP file from your "Downloads" folder.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.14.53_PM.png

2.3. Please note, upon opening the file you might receive an "Install" pop-up window or an error message as displayed below:

i) Direct to install: this means you can install and begin to configure your embeddable channel right away with the WebViewScreenSaver being installed on your macOS device. You can proceed to step 3 of this article.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.16.33_PM.png

ii) The app cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified: this is standard if you download an application from the web which is not directly from the macOS app store. This is security protection in place to prevent non-certified or possible malware apps from being installed on your computer - however, this is standard even for apps that are okay to download from the internet such as WebViewScreenSaver.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.17.19_PM.png

In order to resolve this, open your "System Preferences" for macOS and type "Security & Privacy". Open these settings.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.17.59_PM.png

Once you've accessed "Security & Privacy", click on the "General" tab and there will be an option available to "Open anyway" noting the app you have just downloaded (i.e. WebViewScreenSaver). Select this and you will be prompted to the customer screensaver setup.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.18.29_PM.png

3. Embed your channel with WebViewScreenSaver as your screensaver

3.1. With the WebViewScreenSaver successfully installed, this allows you to take a URL or link from the web to show as your screensaver. In this case, we are going to use the link copied from your embeddable channel setup in ScreenCloud and input this into the WebViewScreenSaver.

3.2. Open your "Desktop & Screensaver" settings from macOS. From here, you can now see "WebViewScreenSaver" from your screensaver list. Select this.

3.3. Once WebViewScreenSaver has been highlighted you will see to the right that you have the option to change your "Screen Saver Options". Click on this.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.25.35_PM.png

3.4. A pop-up window will open which has a list of links and URLs. This essentially allows you to display a chronological order of websites or links for any desired timeframe as your screensaver. From here, you can either double-click the existing URL from the "Addresses" to copy and paste your embeddable channel link or select "Add URL" to enter the link you've copied from your ScreenCloud account.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_12.48.36_PM.png

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.26.06_PM.png

3.5. Next, you can enter the timing (please note: in seconds) for how long you would the screensaver to display your embeddable channel. For instance, if you wanted the screensaver to display your embeddable channel for fifty-minutes you would enter "3000 seconds", for an hour you would place "3600 seconds", etc.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.26.25_PM.png

3.6. Once you're finished entering the configurations, you can click "Close" and you should see your screensaver preview populate the embeddable channel you've copied to display on your macOS device. For further instructions and frequently asked questions regarding macOS screensaver settings, please click here for the Apple support article on using screensavers.

Screen_Shot_2021-03-03_at_5.26.49_PM.png

Your embeddable channel will now display as your screensaver for macOS.

Did this answer your question?