Clockwork Orange vs EarthDesk

Clockwork Orange manages desktop wallpapers on KDE Plasma 6, Windows 10/11 and macOS 13+. It can select random images from local folders, distribute choices fairly among sources and assign a different image to each monitor. On KDE Plasma, it can rotate the lock-screen image separately from the desktop. Download plugins fetch images from Wallhaven and DuckDuckGo Images on hourly, daily or weekly schedules, with a file limit configurable for each source. Wallhaven’s full catalogue requires an API key. The app records image URLs and content hashes to prevent duplicate downloads, even if a file has been deleted. Marking an image in the window deletes the file and adds its hash to a blacklist for future downloads. Version 4 is a native Go program with a command-line binary that also runs as the daemon, plus a Fyne desktop window with plugin controls, history, blacklist management and settings. It is free under the MIT License. On Linux it can run as a systemd user service; the macOS app is ad-hoc signed and not notarised.

EarthDesk turns a computer desktop into an updating view of Earth from space, with near-real-time clouds, sun and moon depictions, and city lighting. It offers 12 map projections, including Mercator, Azimuthal, Equirectangular, and a globe with optional starfield. Maps can be centered using latitude and longitude, relative to the sun or moon, or on one of 10,000 locations; a data subscription adds other centering choices. On multiple displays, it can show a different map on each screen or span one map across them. Standard cloud imagery is global, 2-megapixel, and refreshed every six hours. The data subscription adds geo-located, parallax-corrected imagery from 23 satellites at 32-megapixel detail, refreshed every three hours, plus earthquake, tropical storm, and International Space Station information. The maker offers a free Mac or Windows trial before purchase. A single-user license starts at 24.99 USD once and covers two Mac or Windows computers. An upgrade costs 12.99 USD once and requires a previous license key; the data subscription costs $14.99 a year. Minimums are macOS 10.14, Windows 7, or tvOS 13.2.