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Show HN: Lofi Cities – Pixel-art city nights with browser-generated lofi

320 points · 138 comments · safaelmali

Razengan · 1790536364 · focus · HN ↗
Man, wish we had dynamic wallpapers like this, and we could have had it decades ago.
Why do companies like Apple & Microsoft sterilize themselves so?
1. Cockbrand · 1790537043 · focus · HN ↗
  I was having a very similar thought - finally a nice use case for HTML wallpapers like Windows used to have them. I bet that there's a trick to have this as a desktop background in Wayland, but I'm too lazy to find out right now.
  Either way, really nicely made, I love it! Small change request: adjust the CSS to make the controls look less vibecode-y.
  1. safaelmali · 1790618473 · focus · HN ↗
    I’ll take another pass at the controls so they fit the scenes better. If you find a good way to run it as a wallpaper on Wayland, I’d be interested to see it.
2. Vakaiser · 1790537811 · focus · HN ↗
  While it's not free or a first party offering, I've had great success with Cindori Backdrop:
  <a href="https://cindori.com/backdrop" rel="nofollow">https://cindori.com/backdrop
3. [deleted] · 1790539346 · focus · HN ↗
  [deleted]
4. andsoitis · 1790539396 · focus · HN ↗
  Wallpapers that move would make for poor usability.
  1. Razengan · 1790543919 · focus · HN ↗
    That's up to personal preference. Just like with static wallpapers, some people like single subtle colors, some people like noisy multicolored wallpapers.
    There's already subtle parallax in iOS etc.
    Animated wallpapers could be subtle, like raindrops, or animate only when interacted with, when you're bored or waiting for the AI to finish a run etc. :)
    andsoitis · 1790548370 · focus · HN ↗
    > That's up to personal preference.
    Stated preference perhaps, but unlikely revealed preference.
    Depends on context, but for a computer on which you're doing work, moving wallpaper is usually a net negative for usability while you're actively working, though the magnitude depends heavily on the animation.
    The problem is primarily peripheral attention. Motions is a strong pre-attentive visual signal: your visual system detects it without you deliberately deciding to look at it. One a laptop where you're close to the display and spending long periods concentrating on text, code, documents, etc., any visible animated region around or through windows can create low-level competition for attention.
    A good compromise is wallpaper motion during transitions or stillness during work.
    Broader UI principle: motion should explain change, not create change to be noticed.
    Razengan · 1790548662 · focus · HN ↗
    > on which you're doing work, moving wallpaper is usually a net negative for usability while you're actively working
    No, you don't know me, or other people.
    I want every fucking thing moving at all fucking times. It's okay.
    Btw for other people who love some motion in their occupation:
    <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1516350/Textreme_2/" rel="nofollow">https://store.steampowered.com/app/1516350/Textreme_2/
    <a href="https://ash-k.itch.io/textreme-2" rel="nofollow">https://ash-k.itch.io/textreme-2
    andsoitis · 1790550141 · focus · HN ↗
    that looks like fun!
  2. ciberado · 1790545901 · focus · HN ↗
    When using my 32 inch screen sometimes I set the wallpaper to a random walk video in YouTube and it works fantastically. I know that it is counter intuitive, but the contrast between real and moving elements and static and almost flat Windows makes for a nice experience. And helps fighting text editing fatigue.
    Of course, ymmv. But give it a try.
5. richarme · 1790541862 · focus · HN ↗
  This was already a thing almost 3 decades ago. Active Desktop [0] was just a web page displayed instead of the wallpaper image.
  [0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Desktop" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Desktop
  1. Razengan · 1790549290 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah and there were other 3rd party "hacks" for it, but I mean Windows or macOS never made it an official API, so it never caught on, even though Apple's own "Dynamic Wallpapers" use some kind of motion (they're videos but only during screen-savers or time-based)
6. andelink · 1790542469 · focus · HN ↗
  Just tested and this works great on macOS with Plash [1] by Sindre Sorhus. I couldn't find too many URL parameters to control it, but the FAQ does mention an ?obs parameter to hide the interface by default and ?weather=... to choose the weather. This URL in Plash works as described:
  https://loficities.com/tokyo/?obs&weather=leaves
  I was also able to omit ?obs and use the website interface controls to configure it via Plash browsing mode and then the interface went away after a moment of inactivity.
  [1]: <a href="https://sindresorhus.com/plash" rel="nofollow">https://sindresorhus.com/plash
  1. safaelmali · 1790546629 · focus · HN ↗
    Good to know it works with Plash! Thanks for sharing the setup.

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