Technical Guide: Live Wallpaper with Plash

Install Homebrew (if you don't have it)

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

What it does: Downloads and runs the official Homebrew script. Adds brew to your PATH in /usr/local/bin (Intel) or /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple Silicon).

Install the mas tool for the App Store

brew install mas

What it does: Installs the mas command-line client, which lets you search and install apps from the Mac App Store.

Install Plash via mas

# Search for Plash's ID
mas search Plash

# You should see something like:
# 1494023533 Plash: Live Wallpaper

# Install Plash
mas install 1494023533

What it does: Downloads and installs Plash (ID 1494023533) directly from the App Store.

Verify Plash is installed

mas list | grep 1494023533

What it does: Lists apps installed with mas and filters for Plash to confirm installation.

Launch Plash from Terminal

open -a Plash

What it does: Opens the Plash app (-a = "by app name"). You should see the 💧 icon in your menu bar.

Add your Live Wallpaper in Plash

1. Click the 💧 Plash icon in the menu bar.
2. Select Add Website….
3. Paste the URL:
https://marinalfonso.github.io/LiveWallpaper/
4. Press Enter.

What it does: Plash will load your animated HTML from GitHub Pages and display it as your wallpaper.

Enable Browsing Mode (optional)

open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.sindresorhus.Plash"

What it does: Opens Plash Preferences where you can enable Browsing Mode if your wallpaper requires cookies or login.

Force periodic reload (optional)

cat < ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.plash-reload.plist




  Labelcom.user.plash-reload
  ProgramArguments
  
    /usr/bin/osascript
    -e
    tell application "Plash" to reload current wallpaper
  
  StartInterval300


EOF

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.plash-reload.plist

What it does: Creates a launchd agent that runs an AppleScript every 300s to automatically reload Plash.

Stop the reload agent

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.plash-reload.plist

What it does: Unloads and disables the reload agent if you no longer need it.

Optional: Build Plash from source

git clone https://github.com/sindresorhus/Plash.git
cd Plash
open Plash.xcodeproj     # Open in Xcode
xcodebuild -scheme Plash # Build from CLI
open -a Plash            # Run the app

What it does: Clones the repo, builds the project, and launches Plash without using the App Store.