Live Wallpapers That
React to You
Metal GPU powered, cursor responsive wallpapers that transform your Mac desktop into a living canvas. 45 stunning effects. Supports custom video wallpapers too.
A Native Live Wallpaper App for Mac
Reactive Wallpaper is a live wallpaper app for Mac that turns your desktop into an animated, interactive canvas. It supports Apple Silicon Macs including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio, and renders each scene with Metal shaders instead of browser effects for smoother native performance.
If you want animated wallpapers for macOS, custom video backgrounds, support for multiple displays, and cursor responsive effects in one app, Reactive Wallpaper focuses on visual quality, battery aware pausing, and a simple one time license. Need setup help or activation steps? Visit the support page.
A Wallpaper for Every Mood
From serene nature scenes to abstract data visualizations. Each wallpaper is handcrafted with Metal shaders for your Apple Silicon Mac.
Hover to reveal each wallpaper preview.
Bring Your Own Clip
Reactive Wallpaper is not limited to built in shader scenes. You can import your own MP4, MOV, or MKV file and run it as a live desktop background with the same lightweight, native Mac feel.
Perfect for cinematic loops, music videos, or your own edits.
Engineered for Performance
Every wallpaper is a real time Metal shader, not a video loop. Smooth animation powered by your Mac's GPU.
Metal GPU Accelerated
Every wallpaper runs as a native Metal shader, rendering directly on the GPU for smooth, efficient animation.
Cursor Responsive
Your wallpapers react in real time to cursor movement. Particles scatter, fields distort, and shader motion responds as you move.
Multiple Displays
Run a different wallpaper on every connected display. Each screen gets its own independent shader and settings.
Battery Smart
Automatically pauses when you switch to battery power or when your MacBook lid is closed. Zero waste.
45 Wallpapers
45 handcrafted shader effects spanning nature, abstract, sci fi, fluid, and retro categories. Plus custom video wallpapers.
Apple Silicon Native
Built exclusively for M series chips. Takes full advantage of the unified memory architecture and GPU capabilities of macOS.
Full Customization
Adjust speed, intensity, and colors for every wallpaper. Make each effect truly yours with real time color pickers and sliders.
Video Wallpapers
Import your own MP4, MOV, or MKV videos as live wallpapers. Loop any video file as a seamless desktop background.
Simple, Fair Pricing
One purchase. All 45 wallpapers. No subscriptions.
Pay once, own it forever
- All 45 wallpapers
- Full customization, speed, intensity, colors
- Cursor responsive effects
- Support for multiple displays
- Video wallpaper support (MP4, MOV, MKV)
Frequently Asked Questions
Reactive Wallpaper requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later and any Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, M4, or newer). Intel Macs are not supported because the app relies on the unified memory architecture and GPU capabilities exclusive to Apple Silicon.
Reactive Wallpaper supports as many displays as your Mac can drive. Each display can run a different wallpaper with independent settings and cursor tracking.
No. Reactive Wallpaper automatically pauses animation when you unplug from power, when a fullscreen app is active, or when the screen is covered. All rendering is handled by the GPU via Metal shaders, keeping system impact low.
After purchasing, you'll receive an email with your serial number. Open Reactive Wallpaper, go to Settings → License, and paste your serial. Your wallpapers will unlock instantly. The serial is tied to one Mac at a time.
Yes. Deactivate your license on your old Mac (Settings → License → Deactivate), then activate the same serial on your new Mac. Your license works on one device at a time.
Reactive Wallpaper works seamlessly with Stage Manager and macOS Spaces. Your wallpaper animates behind all windows and automatically pauses when covered by fullscreen applications to save resources.