This tutorial shows how to install Apple TV Aerial Views Screensaver for Ubuntu. It was only tested on Ubuntu 16.04 but should be compatible with newer versions and probably from Ubuntu 15.04 at least.
Apple TV Aerial Views Screensaver is a collection of high-resolution videos showing splendid point of views of several places in the world such as illustrated below.
Ubuntu is a great OS, but not the sexiest ever. Apple TV Aerial Views Screensaver is a great way to improve it.
Apple TV Aerial Views screensaver need more than 12 GB data to be retrieved.
The following Python script downloads them all:
#!/usr/bin/env python
import json
import os
import requests
import sys
if len(sys.argv) != 2:
print("Usage: %s <path_to_apple_tv_screensaver_files>" % (sys.argv[0]))
sys.exit(1)
downloadDir = sys.argv[1]
if downloadDir[-1] != '/':
downloadDir += '/'
response = requests.get("http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/000/" +
"Features/atv/AutumnResources/videos/entries.json")
screensavers = json.loads(response.text)
for screensaver in screensavers:
for asset in screensaver['assets']:
filename = downloadDir + asset['id'] + ".mov"
if not os.path.isfile(filename):
print("Downloading %s" % (asset['url'],))
film = requests.get(asset['url'], stream=True)
with open (filename, "wb") as filmFile:
print("Writing %s to %s" % (asset['id'], filename))
for chunk in film.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
if chunk:
filmFile.write(chunk)where the first and only argument when using the script is the path where to put the video files.
Copy this code to a file getAerial.py, allow execution running command:
chmod +x getAerial.pyand run:
./getAerial.py <path_to_apple_tv_screensaver_files>Now just be very patient, especially if you have a slow internet connection. If the script doesn't run because a package is missing (e.g. requests), just install it running the command:
sudo apt-get install python-requestsThere can be issues with gnome-screensaver package. The best is just to remove it running the following command:
sudo apt-get autoremove gnome-screensaverRun the following command:
sudo apt-get install xscreensaverMPV media player will be used to read the videos. You can install it by running:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/mpv-tests
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mpvrun Screensaver Unity application, select OK when a message is prompted and quit the application (this initiates .xscreensaver file in your home).
Add this line to programs listed in ~/.xscreensaver file (just below the list containing many - GL: entries):
- Best: "Apple Aerial" mpv --really-quiet --shuffle --no-audio \
--fs --loop-playlist=inf --no-stop-screensaver \
--wid=$XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW --panscan=1 \
<path_to_apple_tv_screensaver_files>/* \n\where <path_to_apple_tv_screensaver_files> is the folder where are .mov files downloaded in 1st step.
## 6th step - Set XScreenSaver to be run at startup
Go to Settings -> Startup Applications and add new entry:
- Name: XScreenSaver Runner
- Command: xscreensaver -nosplash
- Comment: Running XScreenSaver
When a full-screen applications is running (Netflix, Youtube, Molotov.tv...), you don't want any screensaver to be run. Using the bash script listed below restarts idle timer when a full-screen application in foreground is detected:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
displays=""
while read id
do
displays="$displays $id"
done< <(xvinfo | sed -n 's/^screen #\([0-9]\+\)$/\1/p')
timeout_val=`cat ~/.xscreensaver | grep timeout:`
substring_min=$(echo ${timeout_val} | cut -d':' -f 3)
sleep_time=$((${substring_min}*60-30))
checkFullscreen()
{
# loop through every display looking for a fullscreen window
for display in $displays
do
#get id of active window and clean output
activ_win_id=`DISPLAY=:0.${display} xprop -root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW`
activ_win_id=${activ_win_id:40:9}
# Check if Active Window (the foremost window) is in fullscreen state
isActivWinFullscreen=`DISPLAY=:0.${display} xprop -id $activ_win_id | grep _NET_WM_STATE_FULLSCREEN`
if [[ "$isActivWinFullscreen" == *NET_WM_STATE_FULLSCREEN* ]];then
xscreensaver-command -deactivate
fi
done
timeout_val=`cat ~/.xscreensaver | grep timeout:`
substring_min=$(echo ${timeout_val} | cut -d':' -f 3)
sleep_time=$((${substring_min}*60-30))
}
while sleep $((${sleep_time})); do
checkFullscreen
done
exit 0Copy this script to a file named xscreensaverstopper.sh and allow execution running command:
chmod +x xscreensaverstopper.shThis script must be run at startup. Like in 6th step, go to Settings -> Startup Applications and add new entry:
- Name: XScreenSaver stopper
- Command: <path_to_xscreensaverstopper>/xscreensaverstopper.sh
- Comment: Running XScreenSaver
where <path_to_xscreensaverstopper> is the path where you put your script xscreensaverstopper.sh.
- Run application Screensaver in Unity.
- Select mode Only One Screen Saver.
- Select Apple Aerial in the list.
- Choose the desired time before starting screensaver in field Blank After.
- Set Cycle After to 0 minutes.
Enjoy!
- If you wish to change timeout in Screensaver Unity application, you should log out and in again or restart your computer to get the expected behavior.
- Feel free to add xscreensaverstopper.sh somewhere in your path (like in "/usr/bin") to avoid deleting it by mistake. Anyway, once set as startup application, it should not be moved.
The scripts used in this tutorial were taken or adapted from several excellent sources:
- The animation at the beginning was taken from https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial.
- The Python script used to retrieve videos and installation methods were directly taken from https://gist.github.com/Dhertz/9dd69eaad092d0c0fe96.
- The script to prevent screensaver from popping when using full-screen applications was freely adapted from https://jamcnaughton.com/2015/01/10/stop-xscreensaver-interrupting-full-screen-videos/.
Thank you a lot to these 3 contributors who made this tutorial possible.