FAQ

FAQ

Short answers to common questions. Each links to the page with the details.

Do I need Wallpaper Engine?

For scene wallpapers and the Steam Workshop, yes. Scenes need WE's built-in effects, materials, shaders, fonts and SceneScript runtime, which OWE doesn't ship. Settings › Assets downloads them from your own copy on Steam, keeps only those files and WE's default wallpapers, and deletes the rest. Or you can choose an existing WE folder. See Wallpaper Engine assets.

Do I need to own Wallpaper Engine?

For scenes and the Workshop, yes: SteamCMD downloads Wallpaper Engine and Workshop items only for an account that owns it. Video and web wallpapers you already have can be imported and played without Steam.

What does "Wallpaper Engine format" mean?

Wallpapers made for Wallpaper Engine are folders with a project.json and their content: a scene.json or scene.pkg with textures, materials and shaders, a video file, or an HTML page. OWE reads those files directly, so Workshop items and wallpapers you made yourself both work.

Which wallpapers don't work?

Application wallpapers are not supported. Scene support is broad but still growing; a wallpaper that stalls or crashes the app is skipped on the next launch and marked in the library. See Scene wallpapers.

Where are wallpapers stored?

In ~/Documents/Open Wallpaper Engine by default. You can choose another folder in Settings › Assets and move the library there. Every Workshop download lands in that folder. See Wallpaper storage.

Is my Steam login safe?

Your password is never stored. It goes straight to SteamCMD, which keeps its own cached session. The Steam Web API key is kept in the macOS Keychain. You can even log in through Terminal. See SteamCMD and Steam login.

What data does the app keep or send?

Everything stays on your Mac. There is no server and no analytics. OWE contacts Valve (Steam, and Valve's server for SteamCMD), GitHub, to check for and download app updates without sending personal data, and an optional plugin's publisher only when you install that plugin; update checks can be turned off in Settings › Updates. Web wallpapers may load their own online content. See Privacy.

Do I need to install SteamCMD, Homebrew or shader tools?

No. OWE downloads SteamCMD from Valve when needed, and translates shaders with a compiler built into the app. Homebrew's steamcmd also works if you have it.

Can I use a different wallpaper on each display?

Yes. Use Displays in the main window. See Displays and playback rules.

Why is a wallpaper's first load slow?

Its shaders are translated to Metal the first time, then cached on disk. Later loads are fast.

Will it drain my battery?

You decide: use the Laptop on battery rule, lower the FPS, keep Render Resolution at Display, or move the Quality ↔ Efficiency slider toward Efficiency. See Settings › Performance.

Why does Now Playing need macOS 15.4?

From macOS 15.4, OWE reads the live media session through a small script run by the system's /usr/bin/perl; earlier versions use an older system interface. Turn on Media integration support in Settings › Optimizations.

Can I make my own wallpapers?

Yes. Any valid Wallpaper Engine project works: make it in Wallpaper Engine's editor on Windows, or write the files by hand, and import the folder. OWE's own Wallpaper Editor (Edit Wallpaper under the library grid) edits a wallpaper's files on your Mac.

Is OWE affiliated with Wallpaper Engine?

No. See Legal and credits.