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How to select a non-Apple screensaver under MacOS Sonoma v14

In MacOS Sonoma v14 the screen savers settings are still under the "System settings" but Apple promoted their screen savers, leaving the 3rd part screensavers under an "Other" category.

To select a non-Apple screensaver for your Mac, go to System settings and on the left menu scroll down until you find the "Screen Saver" item and click on it.

On the right part, click on "Show all".

how to select a screensaver on MacOS Sonoma step 1

Create and configure a GA4 Google analytics property for SoftMeter

SoftMeter is a Google Analytics client for desktop software (Windows and macOS) that does not rely on the Google Analytics SDKs. With SoftMeter you can monitor the usage of your software application, in the same way as you monitor the visitors to your website.

Google is stopping the Universal analytics properties in July 2023. So you will need to create a GA4 new type of property.

Software Usage Analytics for free with SoftMeter + Google analytics

Google Analytics is the most popular platform for website statistics.

If we imagine our desktop or mobile software as a website, shouldn't we be using the same successful analytics platform also for our software usage analytics?

This is the idea that sparked the creation of SoftMeter, our software usage analytics library for Windows, MacOS and IOS.

MacOS 10.14 Mojave, screensaver problem, solved!

It happened that the StarMessage screensaver had a problem under the new Mojave MacOS version. Due to a change in the operating system's screensaver framework, StarMessage lost its ability to draw on the screen. Many other screensavers for MacOS were also affected in the same way.

See beyond the download: SoftMeter v0.6.3 released

SoftMeter v0.6.3 was released.

If you are already using SoftMeter to monitor your application usage, please upgrade. The API remains the same so the upgrade is simply a replacement of the library file (DLL in Windows, dylib in MacOS).

If you are not using SoftMeter, read on.

Macbook screensaver: StarMessage for MacOS

Your new MacBook (or Mac) comes with some built-in Apple screensavers, but you would certainly prefer a bigger variety of Macbook screensavers to choose from. Read here our suggestions for your Macbook screensaver.

Installation analytics for shareware and desktop software applications

Installation analytics chart for shareware and desktop software applications

Installation analytics is the technique of gathering installation statistics directly from the distributed software installers.

The developers can see even in real-time the stream of installations and uninstalls of their software, understand the impact of their advertising, detect remote problems immediately after the release.

Having installation analytics in your software is essential for your success in this brutally competitive internet.

Digital clock screensaver - StarMessage v.5.7.4

A digital clock functionality was added to the screensaver version 5.74.

You can now see the current time in 24 or 12 hours format, include or exclude the seconds. You can additionally select the color of the digital clock display, and its movement speed. Together with the time, you will, of course, see all the other animations of the StarMessage screensaver.

Installation analytics for Inno Setup

It's time you see some instalaltion analytics for your shareware or other types of desktop software.

With SoftMeter, you can monitor your software's distribution and installation analytics using InnoSetup, and Google Analytics. A free and easy to implement solution.

Google analytics reporting examples for tracking software/shareware desktop applications

By using SoftMeter in your shareware/software application you can see runtime statistics of your desktop program via the Google Analytics platform.

As a shareware developer, you are probably already using Google analytics for your website traffic as it is a free and reliable solution. With our SoftMeter library, you can now also monitor the usage of your software program.

In this article, you can see examples of the reports that you will get.

Checkist: How to transfer a domain name from Godaddy to Namecheap, in 50 minutes (15 steps)

This procedure to transfer your domain name from one registrar to another requires less than 10 minutes of your time. Together with the waiting time for the servers to update, the domain switch takes from 50 minutes to few hours to complete. As this is completed in less than a day, you can perform the transfer just a few days before the renewal date your domain.