Questions
Honest answers.
What Nocturne does, what it costs your machine, and how the details work.
No. A moving 4K wallpaper costs about two to three percent CPU while it plays, because decoding runs on the media engine rather than the CPU. When the wallpaper is out of view it costs nothing at all.
Nocturne runs on macOS 14 Sonoma and later. We track the current and previous major release so the app can lean on the newest media and display APIs.
Yes. Nocturne is built for Apple Silicon (M1 or later), where hardware video decode keeps power draw low. Intel Macs are not a supported target right now.
Yes. Every connected display appears as its own row in the picker with a live preview, and you assign a wallpaper to each. Nocturne remembers the assignment across reconnects and restarts.
When a fullscreen app or a full-window video covers a display, the wallpaper on that display pauses immediately and frees its resources. It resumes at the same frame the moment the wallpaper is visible again.
Nocturne ships a screensaver companion. Select it in System Settings under Screen Saver, and your chosen loop plays on the lock and idle screens. It follows the same power rules as the desktop wallpaper.
Yes, with Pro. Import any H.264 or HEVC file and Nocturne treats it like any other loop, including per-display assignment. For the smoothest result, use a file whose first and last frames match.
If Pro is not for you, email us within 14 days of purchase and we will refund it, no questions asked. The free tier stays available regardless.
A Pro subscription covers all the Macs signed in to your account for personal use. There are no per-seat activations to manage.
Once a wallpaper is downloaded it plays entirely offline. You only need a connection to browse the library, fetch new drops, or verify your subscription from time to time.