Summary
The screen saver extension crashes immediately on launch, before rendering
any frame. The screen saver shows a black screen on all displays. Wallpaper
mode works normally, and the preview thumbnail in System Settings → Screen
Saver renders correctly — so this appears isolated to the .appex.
Environment
- Aerial 4.0.14 (260803.1916)
- macOS 15.7.7 (24G720)
- Apple Silicon (ARM-64 native)
- Mac model: [FILL IN — see → About This Mac]
- Displays: 2× DELL S2721HS + built-in Retina display
- Viewing mode: Spanned, Play videos on: All displays, Aspect: Fit to screen
- Sources: My Videos only (custom 32:9 .mov, 243 MB)
Steps to reproduce
- Install Aerial 4.0.14, set Aerial4 as the screen saver
- Add a custom video to /Users/Shared/Aerial/My Videos/
- Set Sources to My Videos only; Viewing mode Spanned
- Let the screen saver activate (or trigger it manually)
Expected
Video plays as the screen saver.
Actual
Black screen on all displays. AerialScreenSaverExtension crashes at launch.
Occurs with both custom videos and after relaunching Aerial following a
display configuration change.
Crash report
Process: AerialScreenSaverExtension [21820]
Path: /Applications/Aerial.app/Contents/PlugIns/
AerialScreenSaverExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/
AerialScreenSaverExtension
Identifier: com.glouel.Aerial-App.AerialScreenSaverExtension
Version: 4.0.14 (260803.1916)
Code Type: ARM-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time: 2026-08-13 11:03:31.8427 -0500
OS Version: macOS 15.7.7 (24G720)
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x00000019c08c628
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 5 Trace/BPT trap: 5
Application Specific Backtrace 0:
0 CoreFoundation __exceptionPreprocess + 176
1 libobjc.A.dylib objc_exception_throw + 88
2 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
_derivedExtensionAuxiliaryHostProtocolWithContextClass:] + 376
3 ExtensionFoundation -[NSExtensionContext(ExtensionKitAdditions)
_derivedExtensionAuxiliaryHostProtocol] + 40
4 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
_initializeAuxiliaryConnectionWithListenerEndpoint:] + 488
5 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
initWithInputItems:listenerEndpoint:contextUUID:
extensionContext:] + 980
6 Foundation -[NSExtensionContext
initWithInputItems:listenerEndpoint:contextUUID:] + 136
7 ExtensionFoundation ___112-[EXConcreteExtensionContextVendor
_beginRequestWithExtensionItems:listenerEndpoint:
withContextUUID:completion:]_block_invoke
An uncaught Objective-C exception is thrown during NSExtensionContext
initialization, so the extension never reaches its rendering code.
There is also a separate Aerial (main app) crash report dated 2026-08-09,
available on request.
Full .ips attached.
MacBook Air M4 13 in 2025
Sequoia 15.7.7
AerialScreenSaverExtension-2026-08-13-110334.ips.zip
Aerial-2026-08-09-160608.ips.zip
Summary
The screen saver extension crashes immediately on launch, before rendering
any frame. The screen saver shows a black screen on all displays. Wallpaper
mode works normally, and the preview thumbnail in System Settings → Screen
Saver renders correctly — so this appears isolated to the .appex.
Environment
Steps to reproduce
Expected
Video plays as the screen saver.
Actual
Black screen on all displays. AerialScreenSaverExtension crashes at launch.
Occurs with both custom videos and after relaunching Aerial following a
display configuration change.
Crash report
Process: AerialScreenSaverExtension [21820]
Path: /Applications/Aerial.app/Contents/PlugIns/
AerialScreenSaverExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/
AerialScreenSaverExtension
Identifier: com.glouel.Aerial-App.AerialScreenSaverExtension
Version: 4.0.14 (260803.1916)
Code Type: ARM-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time: 2026-08-13 11:03:31.8427 -0500
OS Version: macOS 15.7.7 (24G720)
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x00000019c08c628
Termination Reason: Namespace SIGNAL, Code 5 Trace/BPT trap: 5
Application Specific Backtrace 0:
0 CoreFoundation __exceptionPreprocess + 176
1 libobjc.A.dylib objc_exception_throw + 88
2 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
_derivedExtensionAuxiliaryHostProtocolWithContextClass:] + 376
3 ExtensionFoundation -[NSExtensionContext(ExtensionKitAdditions)
_derivedExtensionAuxiliaryHostProtocol] + 40
4 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
_initializeAuxiliaryConnectionWithListenerEndpoint:] + 488
5 ExtensionFoundation -[EXExtensionContextImplementation
initWithInputItems:listenerEndpoint:contextUUID:
extensionContext:] + 980
6 Foundation -[NSExtensionContext
initWithInputItems:listenerEndpoint:contextUUID:] + 136
7 ExtensionFoundation ___112-[EXConcreteExtensionContextVendor
_beginRequestWithExtensionItems:listenerEndpoint:
withContextUUID:completion:]_block_invoke
An uncaught Objective-C exception is thrown during NSExtensionContext
initialization, so the extension never reaches its rendering code.
There is also a separate Aerial (main app) crash report dated 2026-08-09,
available on request.
Full .ips attached.
MacBook Air M4 13 in 2025
Sequoia 15.7.7
AerialScreenSaverExtension-2026-08-13-110334.ips.zip
Aerial-2026-08-09-160608.ips.zip