Phosphoria

A kaleidoscope for your TV

Only for Apple TV

$0.99

Apple TV

Forty-two drawing algorithms and twenty-four ways to wipe the screen, drawn at the unhurried pace of a 1990s PC you choose. Sit back and watch a picture build itself. Phosphoria turns your Apple TV into a kaleidoscope. Forty-two drawing algorithms take turns on a mirrored canvas - stars, spirals, arches, ribbons, lattices, fountains, tessellations - three to nine of them layered on one screen at a time. When the picture is finished it holds for a moment, and then one of twenty-four fades takes it apart: some dissolve it, some slide it off the edge, some scramble it into confetti, some drip it down the screen like wet paint. Then a new palette is mixed and it all begins again, and it never repeats. Nothing here is a video loop. Every line and every fade is drawn live, and the pace is the point: these algorithms were written for a 386, and Phosphoria draws at the speed of the PC you choose - a 286, a 386SX, a 386DX with or without its maths chip, or a 486 - slowly enough to watch a shape take form, mark by mark. The colours come from 256-entry VGA-style palettes, made fresh for every screen and cycled continuously, which is why a still picture keeps moving. - 42 image algorithms and 24 fades, all named, all separately switchable - Auto mode watches itself; Semi-Auto lets you pick an image, draw it by hand, and fire a fade - Choose the PC it runs on: 286, 386SX (the default), 386DX, 386DX + 387 or 486DX, each at its own measured speed, with a finer speed adjustment on top - Classic 4:3 or Expanded 16:9 - the widescreen canvas is genuinely wider, never stretched - Classic, HD or 4K. At HD and 4K every curve is rasterised at your television's own resolution, so shapes are smooth while keeping their original weight. Classic keeps the chunky blocks, with a choice of how they are enlarged. - A configuration screen that starts simple - layout and resolution - and opens up on request to the full set: machine, per-image size, which fades may run, images per screen, pause time, colour cycling speed and drawing speed - Works with the Siri Remote, and with a Bluetooth keyboard if you want the original key layout - No account, no network, no advertising, no data collection of any kind Inspired by a 1990 shareware screensaver for MS-DOS by James R. Shiflett. Phosphoria is an independent reimplementation; it shares no code or assets with that program and is not affiliated with or endorsed by its author.

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Phosphoria now draws at the pace of a real PC, and you choose which one. - New Machine setting (Advanced settings, on the Display page): 286, 386SX, 386DX, 386DX + 387 or 486DX. Each draws, pauses and clears the screen at its own measured speed. - The default is the 386SX, the everyday new PC of 1990, so pictures now take shape more slowly than before. For the old speed choose 386DX + 387, or raise the drawing speed. - All 42 images and all 24 fades were reworked and re-timed, so each one draws, ends and fades the way it should on every machine. - Pan/scroll and Gas cloud now scroll smoothly, a whole row at a time. - The screen goes black while a slow machine works out its next picture, instead of freezing on the last one. - The Apple TV's own screen saver no longer covers the picture while Phosphoria is drawing. It still starts normally while a menu is open. Fixes - Semi-Auto keeps working after you change the layout or the resolution, and keeps drawing when you pick a second image from Controls. - Juggle no longer leaves the colours dim afterwards. - Twist, Gas cloud and Quilt no longer leave slivers of the old picture behind at HD and 4K. - Ziti is symmetric again, and heXagon, sierpinski, yarnball, puffs, atom, curves and hilbert draw as they should. - Alt-F10 (reinitialise the image) now does something in five more images. - A keyboard is ignored while a menu is open, holding Select is never also a tap, and the resolution follows your television until you choose one.

The developer, SHAWN EDWARD DOWLER, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

  • Data Not Collected

    The developer does not collect any data from this app.

    Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

    The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More

    Seller
    SHAWN EDWARD DOWLER
    Size
    4.3 MB
    Category
    Entertainment
    Compatibility
    Requires tvOS 18.0 or later.
    • Apple TV
      Requires tvOS 18.0 or later.
    Languages
    English
    Age Rating
    4+
    Copyright
    © 2026 Shawn Dowler