Wallpapers that move with your music
Updated September 27, 2026
Many Wallpaper Engine wallpapers are made for sound. In WallpaperMachine, Audio response lets them move with what your Mac plays, and Media integration lets ones with a music display show the song that’s on. Both are set for each wallpaper.
Audio response
Select the wallpaper, then turn on General configuration → Audio response in the inspector. The setting is kept for that wallpaper and follows it onto displays that mirror it.
What it hears is the sound other apps play on your Mac: not the microphone, and not the wallpaper’s own sound, whose mute and volume stay separate.
It drives the scene wallpapers built for it: audio-reactive shader effects, SceneScript audio buffers of 16, 32 or 64 bands, and audio-driven particle emitters. Video wallpapers don’t gain effects, and web wallpapers don’t receive audio.
Allow system audio recording
The first time, macOS asks to let WallpaperMachine record system audio. If you declined, turn it on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, then switch Audio response off and on again.
Show the song that’s on
Media integration, in a scene or web wallpaper’s inspector, shares the current song’s title, artist, album, cover and timeline with the wallpaper. It is off by default, and only wallpapers with their own music display use it: it adds nothing to the others.
The song comes from macOS’s Now Playing, which Spotify, Apple Music, browsers and many local players publish. Only the current player is shown, and missing titles or covers are left empty rather than invented. It records no audio.
If Now Playing can’t answer, the app asks Music or Spotify, only when they are already running; macOS may ask you to allow that the first time.
Play, pause and skip from the wallpaper
Wallpapers with their own transport buttons can control the player you are using once Media integration is on. Each button starts on the action its name suggests (play and pause, next or previous), and the inspector lets you change it, or turn it off.
Find wallpapers made for sound
In Discover, Filter → Show only → Audio responsive lists wallpapers that react to sound. The Music tag narrows it further.
Common questions
Does WallpaperMachine listen to my microphone?
No. Audio response uses the sound other apps play on your Mac, never the microphone.
Do video wallpapers react to music?
No. A video plays as it was made. Scene wallpapers with audio effects are the ones that react.
Which music apps work with Media integration?
Any player that publishes macOS Now Playing information, such as Spotify, Apple Music and web browsers. Only the current player is shown.