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I like to display my own images using the Mac OS X screensaver, but it seems that Mountain Lion has shortened the duration for which each image is displayed. The duration is too short for my tastes – that is, the screensaver changes images too quickly. I searched online but could not find an explanation of how to change the refresh rate; I also looked inside the likely preferences files (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect.plist) and none of the properties there appear relevant.

Is there a way to change the rate at which images are shown?

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Found the solution!

I followed these instructions and it worked for me! http://wiki.daveking.com/index.php?title=Change_The_Slide_Duration_In_Screensaver_%22Ken_Burns%22_Slideshow

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  • I can confirm this works for the "Classic" effect as well. Thank you for finding this and posting the answer!
    – mhucka
    Commented Feb 4, 2013 at 16:15
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    Unfortunately, that link is down right now. Could you reproduce the answer here?
    – Stefano Palazzo
    Commented Aug 5, 2013 at 8:26
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    @StefanoPalazzo Oops, I'm sorry, I never checked back here and didn't see your request until now. The gist of the answer is that you need to modify the integer value of the field JustASlide/mainDuration in the file /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Slideshows.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Content/EffectDescriptions.plist. The units are seconds, and the default value is 3. Note that you will also need to change the permissions on the file and the folder before being able to edit the file.
    – mhucka
    Commented Mar 5, 2014 at 19:07
  • @mhucka the first entry of mainDuration is used in some kind of formula and used as variable. @ABCDEFGHGJKPQGQSde_needsRandomSeed[orientation_needsPanoInformationYclassNameWpresets]effectVersion_phaseInDurationZisNative3D_phaseOutDuration^imageInputInfo\mainDuration]numberOfTexts There is no mainDuration followed by integer in a whole file. Am I doing something wrong?
    – Johnny Five
    Commented Mar 6, 2020 at 11:05
  • @JohnnyFive Is this is on OS X 10.8? This answer probably does not apply to any other version of macOS....
    – mhucka
    Commented Mar 6, 2020 at 16:13
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this does not work on MacOS Ventura.

The plist file sits now on the read-only system partition. :(

However someone on MacRumors recommended ArtSaver. Which comes as an app or a Mac screensaver.

I downloaded and installed this and it works as expected.

https://user.informatik.uni-bremen.de/zach/software/ArtSaver/index.html

It has a lot of options, including slide duration:

enter image description here

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    This is going to be the answer going forward with the operating system sealing the contents of this specific default. Well done
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Dec 6, 2023 at 21:40

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