Fliqlo Alternatives for Mac

Fliqlo is the flip-clock screensaver most Mac owners meet first. It is free, it puts the time on screen in big split-flap digits, and you can read it from the other side of the room. That is the whole idea, and it is a good one. A clock you can read at a glance beats a slideshow you have to squint at.

People still go looking for an alternative, and usually for one of a few reasons: they want the clock to move instead of sitting in the middle, they want a second look for a second Mac or a second mood, or they want something that is still being worked on. Here is how to think about the options, and where Nap fits.

Start with what you actually want

Before comparing anything, it helps to name the thing you are missing. In practice it is one of these.

• Readability. Big digits, high contrast, visible across a room.
• Movement. Something that changes, so the screen does not look frozen.
• Choice. More than one colour, more than one background.
• Upkeep. A screensaver that gets opened again when macOS changes.
• Controls. Speed, size, 24-hour or 12-hour, seconds on or off.

Most of the arguments about screensavers are really arguments about which of those five matters most to you.

A flip clock that moves

The simplest step away from a static flip clock is a flip clock that travels. Nap’s Flip Clock is a split-flap clock that drifts across the screen and bounces off the edges, the way the old DVD player logo did. It keeps the part people like about a flip clock, the readable digits and the little flap animation on every change, and adds something to watch. You can switch it to 12-hour time and turn seconds on or off.

If the bouncing is the part you came for rather than the clock, that is its own small genre, and there is a longer write-up of the DVD bouncing screensaver idea and how it behaves on a Mac with more than one display.

More than one look

A single fixed appearance is fine until you put it on a second Mac next to the first. Nap handles this by separating the thing on screen from how it is painted: every style works on every background, with speed and size sliders and a live preview inside the app so you are not guessing. There is a page showing every style and background if you would rather look than read.

This is worth checking in any alternative you try. A screensaver with one look is a decision someone else made for you.

Something that is not a clock

Sometimes the honest answer is that you are tired of the time. Nap ships several screensavers, so the clock is one of the options rather than the whole app: Flip Clock, Football, Paper Plane, which can skywrite a short message you give it, Puzzle Cube, Pendulum Wave and Plotter. Swapping between them takes a moment in System Settings.

What macOS already has

Do not skip the free option sitting on the Mac already. Apple ships its own screen savers, including the aerial videos added in recent versions of macOS, and they have two real advantages: nothing to download, and no security prompt to work through. What Apple does not ship is a flip clock, which is why this category of third-party screensaver exists at all.

If your need is mostly “the screen should not be blank”, the built-in ones may be enough.

A full-screen browser tab

There are web pages that draw a flip clock in the browser, and you can put one full screen on a spare display. It costs nothing and works on any machine.

The catch is that it is a window, not a screensaver. It will not start on its own after a few idle minutes, it does not interact with your display-sleep settings, and it keeps a browser busy. For a monitor you glance at all day that can be fine. As a replacement for a screensaver it is not quite the same job.

Things to check before you settle on one

Whatever you pick, three questions save most of the trouble.

Does it run on your version of macOS? A screensaver is a plug-in, and Apple has changed how those load more than once. Check what the developer says about the macOS you are actually on rather than assuming.

How does it get installed? Many screensavers are distributed as a .saver file you put in a folder yourself, and a file downloaded in a browser also brings a security prompt with it. If that is new to you, there is a step-by-step guide to installing a .saver file on a Mac. Nap installs its own screensavers with one button, so there is no hand-copying; the install page covers both the Terminal command and the disk image.

What happens when you get a new Mac? For anything paid, find out whether the licence moves. Nap’s does: one key per Mac, and you can deactivate it on the old machine and use it on the new one. If a Mac dies before you get the chance, support can free the key.

Where Nap stands

Nap is paid. It costs $5 once with no subscription, and it runs for two days from the first time you open it so you can see the screensavers on your own screen before paying. It needs macOS 13 or later and runs on Apple silicon and Intel. It is made by Scanner Techs.

That trial is the part worth using. Screensavers are a matter of taste, and two days of having it come on by itself tells you more than any comparison, this one included.

If a moving flip clock is what you were after, Nap’s Flip Clock is the closest thing to it here, and the other five come along with it.

All posts · Nap is our own collection of screensavers for the Mac. Install it and the first two days are free.