After Dork

Chemistry screen savers for the Mac. Flying flasks, molecular mazes, and a little 1990s nostalgia.

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System: macOS 11 or later
Collection: Eight screen savers
Install: Download ZIP, open the app
Updates: Built-in Sparkle updater

Winged Erlenmeyer and round-bottom flasks drift through the Flying Flasks screen saver. — Flying Flasks, from the After Dork project.

About

The lab has taken over the screen saver.

After Dork reimagines classic screen savers with chemistry: winged glassware, Schlenk lines, a metal–organic framework maze, and an aquarium of interlocked molecules. The animations are drawn in Swift, with adjustable settings for each module.

GlasswareFlying Flasks and Schlenk Pipes bring the bench to your desktop.
StructuresExplore Lattice Maze, Mystify Origami, and the molecular aquarium of Stoddart Reef.
MoleculesOrbital Box morphs through orbital shapes; SMILES Rain drops molecular strings down the screen.
Lab lifeCastaway Chemist follows a graduate student through a very eventful day in the lab.

Screen

Pick a module. Let the flasks fly.

Choose a screen saver, adjust its settings, and try it full screen with Demo. Set Screen Saver installs and selects the module for macOS.

After Dork control panel with Flying Flasks selected, flock-size and drip settings, and Demo and Set Screen Saver buttons. — **Shown**Control-panel screenshot from the project README; this earlier view shows seven of the current eight modules. Select the image to view it at full size.

Install

From ZIP to screen saver.

Open the latest release and download the AfterDork ZIP under Assets.
Unzip it, move AfterDork.app to Applications, and open it.
Select a module and adjust its settings. Use Demo for a full-screen preview.
Choose Set Screen Saver to install and select that module. Use the app’s updater for later versions.

Support

Start with the module and your Mac.

Report problems through GitHub issues. A short description of what happens in Demo and after Set Screen Saver helps distinguish rendering problems from macOS setup.

IncludeApp version, macOS version, Mac model, module name, and the settings that reproduce the problem.
CheckTry Demo, then use Set Screen Saver in the app to select the module again.
SourceRead the project’s module guide and build instructions.