How to Use a Website as Your Mac’s Desktop Wallpaper

• Plash lets you use any web page as wallpaper, ensuring that page always appears behind your other windows.

• By default the web page is locked, but you can use Browser Mode to interact and adjust appearance and sound settings.

• Consider using Plash to display a highly visible clock or calendar, prevent sites from closing during a screen capture, or keep track of sites by refreshing them frequently.

Plash is a free macOS app that lets you take any web page and use it as your wallpaper, effectively pinning it behind all other open windows and apps. Let’s explore how to use it and why it’s a valuable addition to your app arsenal.

Getting Started with Plash

After installing Play via App Storeopen the application. Once launched, you will notice that a new addition has arrived in your menu bar in the form of an icon that resembles a water droplet. Plash is controlled entirely from the drop-down menu that appears when clicking on Plash. menu bar icon.

After activating Plash by clicking on the menu item at the top, you can start using it by adding the first website you want to use as your wallpaper.

Click the Plash menu bar item and select “Add Website” from the drop-down menu.

Enter any website of your choice in the “URL” field. Make sure you enter the full web address and don’t forget to add the ” part.

Once you enter the URL, the “Title” field directly below it can be automatically populated with information read from the website you choose, but you can change it to any title you want by editing the text in the field. Once you are happy with your title, click “Add”; Your desktop wallpaper will immediately display the website you chose.

Interaction with Plash

The main purpose of Plash is to “pin” a website to your wallpaper, making it visible at all times but locking its current state from interaction.

However, if you need to interact with your web page in the background, you can do so by enabling Browser Mode, which can be toggled on or off from the Plash menu bar drop-down menu, or via a hotkey as well as other customized hotkeys. can be configured in the “Shortcuts” tab in Plash’s main Settings window.

Adjust Plash’s appearance

Once you’ve verified that Plash is working at a basic level and pinned it to the background by disabling Browse Mode, it’s time to move on to some additional settings that will fine-tune the look of the app to best suit you and your usage. case.

Under the “General” tab in Plash’s settings, use the Opacity slider to adjust the degree to which your original wallpaper image is visible. If you want only your pinned website to be visible, swipe it all the way to the right. Conversely, if you want the site to act as a very light overlay, move it all the way to the left. Adjust this slider to where it looks best to you.

If you’re using multiple monitors, the General settings tab is also where you’ll find the option to choose which screen Plash will be displayed on. If you want Plash to show your selected screen on all virtual desktops, turn on the “Show in all spaces” option.

If you want it to show in only one, exit the Plash settings, go to the desktop where you want Plash’s visibility to be limited, reopen the settings, and then turn off the “Show in All Areas” option. Plash should now only be visible on that desktop area.

Finally, this section of Plash settings is where you can set the interval at which the app will automatically refresh the page. This is useful when using static pages or in other situations where a page may stop automatically fetching data as expected.

Silencing Sound

There is another important setting that is a bit hidden from the others: volume control. Plash’s general ability to output audio can be changed in the “Advanced” settings tab. This is the only way the “mute sound” setting can be done.

Note any additional settings that will be found in this section and determine if any of them need to be changed to suit your use case.

Use Cases for Plash

At first glance, Plash and its capabilities may seem very specific or designed for very advanced users. I think the opposite is true. I have a hard time imagining a single user whose setup could not be improved by Plash on a very practical level. Here are a few to consider.

High Visibility Clock or Calendar

I don’t know about you, but the ubiquity of internet-enabled devices has left my interior decor completely devoid of wall clocks. As a result, I found myself a little uncomfortable having to pull my phone out of my pocket or straining my eyes. Clock displayed in macOS menu bar.

Plash is perfect for presenting a highly visible clock that can be easily seen from anywhere in the room. That’s actually why I originally added Plash to my daily Mac setup. Similarly, Plash is perfect for displaying a large, always visible personal calendar.

Avoid Closing Sites During Screen Capture

Whether you’re capturing your screen for live broadcast purposes or for screen sharing in a remote meeting/presentation, Plash can be used to great effect; This ensures that you don’t interrupt your capture by accidentally closing the browser window. clicking on something you don’t want or freezing the capture by going to another virtual desktop.

If you’re someone who streams or screen shares with any frequency, you can definitely benefit from Plash.

Keeping Tabs on a Website That Needs to be Refreshed Frequently

If you feel the need to constantly refresh a web page (perhaps you’re waiting for a product to go on sale or some information to become available), switching from one browser, then another tab, and then another tab, can be tedious. to always refresh manually.

By adding the website to your wallpaper and setting the refresh interval to a reasonable value, you can easily expose the desktop to receive updates. This is a great feature if you’re expecting a delivery and want to keep tracking status handy.

Plash is an application that is easy to use and represents an almost infinite number of possible usage scenarios. With these qualities, it is a great application that you can go and get even if you do not have a specific use for it at the moment. Keep it in your back pocket and it’s guaranteed to come in handy in no time.