AeroWindow: an app to watch maps
[Problem] I wanted my Mac to feel more like wall art than a desktop. macOS scenic screensavers are nice but only run when you walk away. I wanted something playing while I'm working — satellite maps moving slowly across the screen, the way the ground passes when you're looking out an airplane window. [Comparison] I don't know if "better" applies because I'm not sure what you'd compare it to. Most map apps want you to get somewhere. This one doesn't. There's no destination, no route planning, no directions. It's closer to a screensaver that happens to be real geography. Channels (flights, rivers, ancient routes, rail journeys) run on a continuous schedule, so there's always something playing. Turn it on, pick a channel, let it go. Narration cards tell you what you're passing over if you care, or turn them off and watch shapes drift by. Runs on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, and Vision Pro. No ads. No accounts. No feed. No algorithm. [Pricing] Free. Five full channels, all features, no restrictions. There's a 90-minute idle timeout you can dismiss and keep watching. It's the full app. Plus is $9.99, one time. Every channel, every route, no timeout. Not a subscription. You buy it once and that's it. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aerowindow/id6758411315
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This is very cool! Where are you sourcing the images from?
It uses Apple MapKit for all the imagery, loading in real-time as the map moves.
I had this same question lol
Very cool! Im curious, do the satellite images you use update periodically (like it fetches newer images as they are available)? Or did you just choose specific ones that are baked in until you update them?
The app pulls satellite tiles from Apple Maps, so when they update imagery, the app will too.
I’d love this if it was a wallpaper. Any plans to add that support?
Unfortunately the Apple Wallpapers use pre-recorded videos and I haven't found a way to load dynamic content aside from pre-rendering a few routes as videos. When I have some time I'll dig into it and see if there is any workaround.
nice nice idea! btw is screensaver still a thing? not sure, back then this was huge (whyever)
Sort of. Apple seems to be leaning hard into wallpapers, legacy screensavers are hidden in the setting panel.
The persistent map overlay use case is more niche than it sounds but extremely useful for specific workflows: tracking a delivery, following a race route, monitoring a weather system. The challenge is always z-order management. Does AeroWindow stay above full-screen apps or only regular floating windows? The other question is whether it respects Mission Control spaces or locks to one display. Those two behaviors determine whether this is genuinely useful for multi-monitor setups or mostly a single-display trick.
Fair questions, but honestly AeroWindow isn't built to be a HUD or tracker. It's just slow, pretty maps to leave on a big screen. Closer to a screensaver than a tool. I did look at multi-monitor. The routes are authored for a known aspect ratio, and when stretched across two displays they fall apart. Too much open water, feature density drops off. Might revisit it if people actually want it. The floating window idea is interesting and I'll keep an ear out, but a little phone sized PIP isn't really the point. It's meant for a TV or a large display you glance at, not a corner overlay.
Lovely idea, the airplane-window framing sold me instantly. My one concern with anything that animates the desktop continuously is battery and GPU. Does it throttle or pause on battery, and does it stop rendering when a window covers the desktop? If it is smart about that I would happily run it on my second monitor all day.
Short answer no. But this is something that I can add as a toggle-able setting for the Mac version. Actually, one of the early versions paused the map when you switched apps, but I started using it side-by-side with other apps and wanted to watch maps while I worked. I'll dig deeper into the energy efficiency stuff and try to improve that in the next update. Appreciate the feedback!
This is so cool! Im not sure if Apple Maps does other planets too, but it'd be pretty cool to have this be for Mars!
Yeah, Apple Maps only does Earth. I've built my own tile set for the moon, which I plan to add to it's own channel on AeroWindow. Will add Mars to the list.
feels very calming for some reason.
that was the goal. just floating above the world.
As someone who spends time just scrolling maps, I love this! It’s a good speed—very relaxing.
Yeah, I've spent a-lot of hours doom-zooming maps. I knew there were others! Thank you for checking it out!
wow this is beautiful! would be curious how this looks on vision pro lol
Thanks! There is a Vision Pro version, but it's just a window and not fully immersive, not sure how that would work properly since we're looking down on a 2d image. Someday!
Cool app. Thanks for sharing 👍
You're welcome, thanks for checking it out!
lovely, as a traveller & google earth fan I appreciate it. it gets data from google i guess, if not open street map? btw you could also implement a traffic view of a selected city, I am sure a lot of vehicle owners would like that. To keep an eye on the traffic around
Map data is from Apple MapKit, similar to Google. Appreciate the idea, maybe we'll add some extra layers down the road.