EarthDesk vs Vivid Walls

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.

Vivid Walls is a native macOS app for Wallpaper Engine scene files and video, web, GIF, and image wallpapers. It renders scenes on Apple Silicon with a Metal scene engine. Wallpapers can react to cursor movement, clicks, system audio, or focus modes. Users can span a scene across displays or set independent scenes, then schedule them by time of day or focus mode. The app pauses when the desktop is fully covered or another app is fullscreen, reduces its frame rate on battery, and respects Low Power Mode. Eight animated 1080p wallpapers are loaded into the library at first launch. A free Windows Companion transfers a Wallpaper Engine library to the Mac over local Wi-Fi using a four-character code. The free plan keeps the bundled wallpapers; the Full Library costs $9.99, paid once. The app requires macOS 14.0 or later and Apple Silicon M1 or later, and does not support Intel Macs. The maker says some scenes may render incorrectly because of their varied effects and content.