Recently I bought one of the new Apple TVs. So far it has been a pleasure to use this clever device but by default it lacks some personality. Additionally I’ve became quite annoyed by the National Geographic pictures the device uses for it’s default screen saver.

The screen saver’s default display mode is called “floating”: Selected pictures slowly move upwards in different layers of distance – looks like bubbles in a glass of water. I love it.

Suddenly I had that great idea: “What about having the album art of your favorite music floating around? A great thing for parties, too.”

How To

We’ll achieve this by uploading the album art to Flickr, because Apple TV’s come with the option to use pictures from any Flickr account as the source for its screensaver.

1. Create a Flickr account and write down it’s username
2. Upload all your favorite album art
   Keep in mind that Apple TV isn’t afraid of scaling up your covers to its own full screen height (i.e. 1080 pixels in most cases). You should avoid album art with less than 800 pixel width/height. In my opinion the best sources for Album Art are Album Art Exchange (they have pictures of outstanding quality – all free) and Google Pictures.
3. Add all pictures to an album and make sure their visibility is set to public
4. Select Screen Saver in Settings on your Apple TV and navigate to Photos. Now choose Flickr and Add Flickr Account – type in your username
5. Select an album of your choice and your’re done

Other cool ideas could be uploading some movie posters or game art. I’m waiting for Tumblr and imgur support, Apple.