I love my Mac and MacOS but one thing it lacks (as far as I'm concerned) is flexibility in wallpaper changing. For me I want my wallpaper to be a favourite holiday (or other) photograph (MacOS can do this), but I also want to know where the picture was taken, what 'camera' was used and when it was taken. This shortcut has been evolved to meet that need in that it changes the wallpaper and overlays a 'Widget' on top of it which displays the 'missing' data.
Features include:
- Can be run from Finder using Quick Share
- Preferred execution is via the Shortery App where it can be executed via a Timed or Keyboard Trigger. I myself use a Timed trigger, changing the wallpaper every hour
- There are two sets of dictionary settings; Automatic and Custom which allow you fully tune the wallpaper size and the Widget
- The various elements of the Widget can be toggled on / off
- Applying a defined tint to the entire wallpaper
The Widget displays the following data:
- A - Location - This is processed to remove duplicate data ('Street' in 'Town / City'), UK Post Codes are similarly removed.
- B - The 'Camera' used to take the original picture.
- C - The timestamp on when the picture was taken.
- D - The timestamp as to when the wallpaper was changed.
- E - Various 'Flags' are displayed indicating processing changes that have been made while setting the wallpaper
Tips:
- Comments at the top of the shortcut along with the dictionaries should hopefully make it easy to understand / configure.
- It is in 'Automatic' mode 'as shared' (Custom = False), you may wish to switch it to Custom=True if using a Hi-Res display or the wallpaper / Widget appear blurred.
- RECOMMENDATION - If you wish to sharpen both the wallpaper and widget text Custom=True is definitely worth changing to. However depending on your screen resolution you may need to edit the variables. I use a resolution of 3072 × 1728 and the ‘custom’ settings work for me - When the wallpaper is set in place it automatically adjusts the larger resolution setting in the dictionary and gives the best results. You may need to tune the other settings to adjust the Widget's position.
The download link for the Wallpaper Shortcut is now HERE.