How to Master And Change Apple TV Screensaver

BY Osas Obaizamomwan

Published 8 May 2016

Apple TV 4 comes with a very popular screensaver option called Aerials. These high-resolution, “moving pictures” look great on the Apple TV and garnered so much attention, people wanted the Aerials screen savers for their laptops too. Nevertheless, if you have an Apple TV you may want to switch the screensaver option or add some variation to an already existing choice. So, we are going to show you exactly how to change the Apple TV screensaver.  

How to change the screensaver on Apple TV

Check out the steps below for changing your Apple TV’s Screensaver:

  1. Turn on your Apple TV and open the Settings App and head over to General.
    Apple TV screensaver - General
  2. In General, you will see the option for Screensaver, click on this section.
    Apple TV screensaver
  3. When you click here, you will see Type. Click on Type to change the Type of screensaver you currently have. There will be a drop-down list of your options.
    My Photos

That’s the quick breakdown of changing you Apple TV’s screensaver. If you do not have Home Sharing already set up, take a look at our guide on how to use photos from your computer as Apple TV screensaver. But wait… there’s more.

How to get more (or less) Aerial screensavers 

Even though I just showed you how to change the default Aerial screensaver, it doesn’t mean I am not a fan. The Aerial screensaver is actually my favorite type, but that may be due to how many different scenes I have on my Apple TV. The Aerial screensaver has a fixed amount available, but you can alter how often Apple downloads new ones for your device. So, the more often you let it download, the more variation you will have with the Aerial screensaver.

  1. Turn on your Apple TV and open the Settings App and head over to General.
    Apple TV - General
  2. In General, you will see the option for Screensaver, click on this section.
    Apple TV Screensaver
  3. When you click here, you will see Type. Click on Type and make sure Aerial is selected from the drop-down menu.
  4. Head back (hit the Menu button on the Siri Remote) until you are on the Screensaver menu screen.
    Download new videos
  5. You will see Download New Videos. Click on this to alter how often your Apple TV downloads new videos (Never, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly).
    Download Videos - Aerial

But, you can do more than just change the screensaver or how often Aerial download. You can also change the transition effect.

Change screensaver transition:

To change the Transition type you will need to have a screensaver that has that option. Transitions work for My Photos, My Music, Apple Photos, and Home Sharing (if enabled).

My Photos

  1. With one of those screensavers, options enabled, head back to the Screensaver menu, and you will see a list of transitions to choose from.
    Transition
  2. Once you select the transition you like, you can preview it by selecting Preview from the list.
    Transition - Cascade

That’s all there is to screensavers, and how to configure them on your Apple TV. Let us know how it goes in the comments.