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Remember desktop pets? In the very early days of the web, they came in many forms (cats, ants, cockroaches, even spyware), all of them cute little pixels who just hung out on your screen to keep you company. It made the strange, isolating new world wide web we all found ourselves in feel a little more like home.
Sadly, most of the ones we knew and loved in the past died quiet digital deaths. Yet we can thank indie game and web art designer Nathalie Lawhead (aka alienmelon) for keeping the dream of desktop buddies alive over the years, reinventing them for the modern world, and leading a niche movement to bring them back.
'Virtual pets are a relic of that era. A way to humanize the cold digital space that you're constantly in.'
'Desktops used to be much more customizable spaces,' she wrote to Mashable over Twitter. 'Virtual pets are a relic of that era. A way to humanize the cold digital space that you're constantly in. They kind of counteract the golden rule of productivity and 'maximizing output' that we're so used to when engaging with a computer. Instead of running things that are only useful, you get this little goofy presence that makes occupying this space less of a lonely void.'
In a recent blog post, Lawhead detailed a thorough history and love letter to the desktop buddy. She's been making them since Neopets first became a thing, accruing at least a dozen of the most oddly delightful new versions of this old web tradition.
Now that the lucky among us are working from home due to coronavirus stay-at-home orders, we're faced with an even more severe version of that digital isolation of the past, often with only our screens for companionship. Which is why the desktop buddies need to come back ASAP in a big way.
SEE ALSO: Best beginner-friendly video games for your coronavirus lockdown
'It's kind of escapism. Transforming our digital spaces into a fantasy world that we can actually live in matters a lot,' she said. 'Computers are really good at making us feel alone. You definitely get that in most of the virtual spaces we're put into (like a desktop, photoshop, anything we work in). All that exists here is YOU and the impending urgency to be productive because that's what the space was designed for.'
But taking back utility-only virtual spaces with goofiness is one way to help us stay sane. And that's why she hopes other creators will join her in making more of these digital toy friends, even if it's just a desktop buddy version of their video game or animated character. Her post explains how she approaches designing them, emphasizing how surprisingly easy they can be to make.
'There's also a therapeutic aspect for yourself in knowing that you're 'building a friend.'
'There's also a therapeutic aspect for yourself in knowing that you're 'building a friend.' You get to decide what kind of emotions it expresses. How it interacts with you,' Lawhead said. 'Sharing that with others is very meaningful.'
With so many designers finding themselves also stuck at home and possibly with more time on their hands than usual, now is the best time to rally around the movement to bring back desktop buddies.
We went ahead and curated a list of our own favorite virtual desktop companions, based almost entirely on Lawhead's list of what's available right now. They might seem limited now, but imagine what they could be if more people joined in.
(Note: Many are free to download with a suggested donation. We highly recommend giving the few bucks creators request since, like many, designers are also facing uncertain financial times.)
Electric Love Potato (Two Point OH!)
Electric Love Potato (Two Point OH!) is a ride-or-die desktop buddy. A second iteration on an earlier design, its core personality remains as winning as ever. Like any Good Boy puppo companion, the Electric Love Potato (Two Point OH!) is immediately obsessed with you, telling you various affirmations. In return, you can hug, water, and brush it (you can also shame it, but what kind of monster are you?) As thanks, it makes potato art just for your viewing pleasure.
But the Electric Love Potato (Two Point OH!) is not a passive virtual buddy. You'll very frequently have to save it from various threats, and the window pop-ups can look like spam (they are not). But that's by design, since the Electric Love Potato (Two Point OH!) is just meant to make you laugh.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Price: Free, with a$2.00 suggested donation
eSheep
The only surviving relic of the original desktop companions on our list, eSheep is both a blast to the past and very relevant to this moment. Originally created over two decades ago by Tatsutoshi Nomura, a fan has resurrected this cute little guy for all our benefit. eSheep does little more than just walk around the bottom of your screen, occasionally yawning or sitting like a cutey. You can pick him up and drag him around, but he'll just go back to doing sheep things. Jupyter notebook app mac.
Platforms: Windows
Creator: Originally Tatsutoshi Nomura, new version Adriano
By far the most relatable entry on our list, this buddy is described as 'an existential desktop friend that knows you have doomed it by running it.' Hard same.
And it's not kidding: After opening the application and bringing this adorably self-conscious little creature to life, it will beg for its life every time you try to quit, then the app will self-destruct after you force quit.
But RUNONCE isn't about just guilting you. The rabbit-like virtual companion stomps around your desktop spouting anxieties about the fleeting nature of life, worrying about being too overbearing by asking you questions, and finally concluding that love makes it all worthwhile even though everything must end.
It also frequently asks you to save conversations you have, which is automatically preserved in a folder. So even after you murder this innocent digital being, you can still hold onto the memories.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Creator: alienmelon
Price: Free, with a$1.00 suggested donation
Girb
Like a more passive version of RUNONCE, Girb is exactly what the perfect desktop companion should be: unbelievably cute and useless. He just bops around your screen, not doing much of anything, sometimes spouting technobabble and tripping over itself <3
In the description, Lawhead says she created Girb to help a friend dealing with depression, and it's immediately apparent how Girb can help bring a smile to all our faces.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Creator: alienmelon
Price: Free, with a$0.99 suggested donation
Desktop Goose
Fans of Untitled Goose Game will recognize that honk anywhere. While not affiliated with the game's creator, this fan art desktop companion brings the spirit of what made it great. The Desktop Goose is an adorable nuisance you can't help but love (more like a cat than a dog, if you will). He honks liberally, tracks mud all over your screen, steals your mouse if you click on him, and interrupts your day with goose-related memes (again, stealing your mouse if you dare close out of them).
Mac App Free Download
Why would you willingly download a pest onto your screen? Because he's friggin adorable and ultimately harmless fun. It brings a dash of playfulness to your day, like when I discovered that I could avoid his beak by making him run circles after my mouse until he gave up. Who's honking now, Goose?!
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Creator: samperson
Price: Free, with a$2.00 suggested donation
Mountain
While not necessarily a desktop companion, Mountain is like a virtual bonsai tree that grows independent of you. It's a passive 'game' intended to run in the background while you go about your day doing other stuff, as your mountain evolves in real-time. Its evolution is based on how some first initial choices you make (the only input you have on it) interact with one another.
It's a calming, meditative virtual buddy that helps give you an excuse to take a brief break from work to check in periodically out of curiosity. What's most lovely about Mountain right now is how it reminds us that, despite all this justified anxiety and terror, there's still something beautiful to be found in a world we can't control.
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Creator: David O'Reilly
Price: $1.00
Homeless Pigeon
Did you miss your opportunity to foster a pet before safe-at-home and shelter-in-place orders were put into effect? Well, Homeless Pigeon is here as a virtual pet-in-need of a desktop. Turning these winged pests into an adorable buddy, you can let it just hang out and do its thing in its nest, or click it continuously to shower it with love (we recommend the latter).
Platforms: Windows
Creator: itsNemo
Price: Free, with a$4.00 suggested donation
Desktop Pets
Best app to edit free photos mac appstore. More of a traditional Tamagotchi situation, Desktop Pets offers two different types (a unicorn or turtle, naturally) for you to clean up after and tell them to sleep. It's another really simple one, and since it's kept in a window, not as adorable as truly on-screen desktop companions. But if you miss pressing a button to clear pixelated poo, this one's for you.
Platforms: Windows
Creator: wymandude
Price: Free
My Pet Ghost
Mac Desktop Apps Free Software
Adorably described as 'tamaghosti,' this is another iteration on the traditional Tamagotchi experience. This one's way more extensive, though, and more after-life oriented of course. With mini-games and even an evolution into a new creature after 30 minutes of passive play, your ghost pal is sure to keep you engaged. And yes, it's still possible to kill you tamaghosti from neglect (somehow).
It's also an idle game that lives in a separate desktop. How to delete the mail app from mac. But if you're on windows, that means checking back in only takes a keyboard press of alt+tab.
Platforms: Windows
Creator: Liv Jeremiah, Fancy Pigeons, Harry Prebble
Price: Free
SoundCloud Apps for Mac are of great importance for keeping track of the information inside the browser while listening to the music of our desire. Native SoundCloud apps for Mac are far better in this in comparison to the normal web apps available for download from the various downloading platforms. In the absence of the SoundCloud desktop apps for Mac, It is quite troublesome to press the Play/Pause key again and again to as it instantly opens the iTunes option instead of pausing the currently playing soundtrack.
Best SoundCloud Desktop Apps For Mac OS X
1. SoundCleod
App provides the special functionalities of its own along with even the similar characteristic features as that of the basic native web apps. This app is also compatible with providing and restoring the key functionality in full media interface. This statement means to state that the SoundCleod app is sufficient enough in playing, pausing and skipping back and forth even without finding the right tab inside the user’s feed environment. Repeating, Shuffling as well as Scrubbing kind of features inside the soundtrack appears deep inside the SoundCleod frame’s bottom which can also be navigated back and forth with the help of cmd+Left/Right arrow.
Mac Desktop App Development
2. Soundnode
Talking the fully native and opensource SoundCloud Apps, this app definitely wins the race which is also available completely for free as open source app to get downloaded. In addition to the Mac operating systems, this app is also available for Linux as well as the Windows environment. This functionality itself explains the high-end technologies utilized for the development of this app and making it compatible with all these platforms. A deep colored theme is viewable in the app and a sidebar is also provided for media controls as well as the navigation at the window’s bottom. An added Searching feature has also been provided in the app to instantly search the required query.
3. Cumulus
This app has been well designed to get inside the Mac menu bar silently during the installation and continues to acquire the place until and unless it is requested to arrive. A three-pane window instantly gets opened soon after clicking on the icon of this app which displays the playlists along with the feeds and likes. Cumulus app can be kept fully under the control with the help of several media-based keys which also provides a support for the notifications to get appeared after each and every track change. However, the app is in love with most of the users all around the globe because of easy access to all the essential options inside the menu bar itself.
4. VOX
VOX is one of the most demanded native media player which can instantly be used after successfully creating the SoundCloud account. Prior to that, a free VOX account is needed to be created by the users and after that, the SoundCloud account can effectively get linked for various processing. Premium plan membership will often get prompted in front of the users after which the tracks will not need to get played from the SoundCloud. No playlist support is provided and there even does not exist any option to post the comments. However, the users can hover the Now Playing area to instantly like the soundtracks.
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5. BeardedSpice
It is not an individual and cannot be thought of as a separate SoundCloud app. It picks up the SoundCloud web app and fixes most of the unresolved issues quickly. Web-based media player’s control is allowed via this helpful app and other several apps of the native category with the help of Mac’s media control keys. This BeardSpice apps makes itself hidden beneath the menu bar and uses the special command cmd+F6 focusing the bearded spice controlling tab. Several other sites including Daily Motion, Netflix, Google Music also provides an environment for this app to function properly.
6. Anesidora
This is one of the best regarded and rewarded free SoundCloud desktop apps for Mac OS providing multiple functionalities. With extremely simple and beautiful interface, the app also provides support for Retina displays as well as the accessing center of notification for the users to get notified about the deep-rooted functions which are inbuilt here. A Proxy is even automatically applied if the app detects the location outside the United States which makes every Pandora feature available for the users.
7. Sylo
Sylo is an app filling the entire expectations of the music lovers all over the world with dedicated skins, graphical interfaces, top quality soundtrack playing options with other added multiple functionalities. The app has the capacity to search all the available music paths and platforms at one go and thereby the app allows every single music lover to access and use the largest dictionary of music tracks of all categories all over the world.
8. sTunes
sTunes is another free Soundcloud desktop app for your Mac which comes with a built-in 10-band music equalizer & volume amplifier providing an improved sound quality. The desktop app runs in the background of your Mac and lets you easily play, pause, switch, shuffle or repeat songs using keyboard shortcuts.
Above mentioned are the best SoundCloud desktop apps for Mac. Which is your favorite SoundCloud app?