New with Desktop Pictures

Now with macOS Big Sur, Apple introduced a number of new features. But in addition to adding new features, they also added some new desktop pictures, including dynamic desktop pictures, which change throughout the day. Let’s see what is new with desktop pictures. Let’s go to my Mac.

So I’m looking at macOS Big Sur here. Let’s go and open up my System Preferences. This is where we will find our Desktop & Screensaver settings. We’re going to go to our Desktop Settings. This is where I can change the wallpaper or the desktop picture. I click on it, and now what we need to do is we need to make sure that we’re looking at Desktop. Over to the left, we have the Desktop that we are currently using. Now, depending on what you have selected, you may have different options over to the right. This is nothing new on macOS Big Sur. This was introduced in macOS Mojave, but they expanded greatly with macOS Catalina and then macOS Big Sur.

So I’m using the light image here. I click on this, and I can change it to dark. And now it’s going to be a darker image. I can also have it automatically change by going to automatic. Now, not all images have this. If I go and select an image down here, let’s go with this one here, you’re going to see I do not have that option there. So not all images have that option to change it from light to dark or have it automatic. It is categorized.

We have light and dark desktops. So these are the ones that have that light and dark Desktop. So let’s go to this one here. What I’m able to do is change this from light to dark or have it automatic.

But my favorite is Dynamic Desktop. With Dynamic Desktop, what it does is it changes from light to dark automatically, depending on the time of day. So I’m going to swipe down here so we get a better look at our different options. With our first one here, we’re looking at Big Sur. If you wait long enough, you will see that this thumbnail here, this representation, shows you what the image or the desktop picture is going to look like throughout the day. So if you just want to get a preview of what this thing’s going to look like throughout the day, you can sit here and watch this. Let’s go and move this window out of the way so it can see our Desktop. So we’re looking at Big Sur here.

We do have different settings for this. I can change it to light and dark, just like before. So let’s go with dark here, and now we can see it as dark. So we have a lot of the same settings there. But also, in addition to changing from light to dark, you’re going to see I have Dynamic. Dynamic works a little bit differently than Automatic.

With Automatic, we have two images, a light image and a dark image what we have here, a light image and a dark image. But with dynamic, what it does is it changes the image throughout the day. So if it’s in the middle of the day, it’s going to be a bright image. As the day gets darker, your desktop picture here will also get darker. So when I change this to dynamic here, it’s going to be more like sunset because it is about six o’clock here. Here’s Catalina. And again, this is dynamic so that I can change it from light to dark or make a dynamic.

In addition to our Desktop changing either automatically or dynamically, Apple also added artwork as a desktop picture. So, in addition to having photographs, you also have some nice looking artwork. I like this one here of the cliffs. This artwork is also dynamic, which means it’s going to change throughout the day. If you want to see what it’s going to look like in bright daylight, you go to light, and now we can see what it would look like in daylight. And then if you want to see what it’s going to look like at night, you go to dark, and now it can see what it’s going to look like at dark. We also have the Lake, we have the Desert, and then we have the Beach.

If you do not want to have an image, you want to have more of a neutral background. You can go with Solar Gradients, and now it will be more of a neutral background. It’s not going to be completely neutral because it is going to change color throughout the day. And if you look at the preview window, you’ll see a changing color. I’m going to go back over to my favorite here, the Cliffs, and let’s put this back over to Dynamic, so it changes, and now let’s close the window.

So that’s the new Desktop Pictures and how Dynamic Desktop works with the new images in macOS Big Sur. These aren’t necessarily new features, but they were expanded with macOS Big Sur. Depending on what you select for your desktop picture, you can change throughout the day, this is a dynamic picture, or you can just have a change between day and night. This is where we have automatic.

So that’s what’s new with desktop pictures in macOS Big Sur.