Buy — $8

Turn your idle screen into a Nixie clock.

A screen saver for Mac. That’s your time, live: click the tubes to cycle them.

Every wire of a real IN-14 tube, rebuilt and drawn live by your Mac. Scroll down for a closer look.

  1. It starts with a glass tube.

    Modelled on the Soviet IN-14, right down to the reflections in the glass.

  2. Ten numbers, stacked.

    Each one is its own bent wire, in the IN-14’s order. The ones that aren’t lit stay faintly visible behind the one that is, like in a real tube.

  3. Wrapped in a fine mesh.

    In a real tube, the number lights up when current jumps from it to this mesh. Here the mesh catches the glow.

  4. Wired all the way down.

    Thirteen leads, each welded to its own part, just like the original.

  5. Lit from the bottom up.

    When the time changes, the new number glows up its wire as the old one fades out.

  6. Line a few up and it’s a clock.

    Hours and minutes, with or without seconds. Or the date, if you’d rather.

  7. Warmer or cooler.

    Anywhere from deep red-orange to amber.

  8. Or try a different gas.

    Classic neon, a neon–argon mix, or a hint of mercury blue.

  9. Every hour, every number.

    Real Nixie clocks run through all ten now and then to keep the tubes healthy. Nixie does it on the hour.

  10. Now, about the 5.

    This is the one you’d expect.

  11. The IN-14 didn’t have one.

    So its makers improvised.

  12. It’s a 2, upside down.

    Nixie lets you pick either one.

  13. 2% of one CPU core.

    Real Nixie tubes run on 170 volts. These barely touch your Mac, full screen on a 14-inch MacBook Pro, because they only draw when something changes.

The details

Display
Hours and minutes, with seconds or even hundredths if you like, in 12- or 24-hour time. Or the date, in your Mac’s order.
Tube
Modelled on the IN-14. More tubes are coming as free updates.
Size
Classic, with room around the tubes, or Close, filling the screen edge to edge.
Separators
A dot tube, a separator tube, two little neon bulbs, or nothing at all.
Glow
Neon, neon–argon or mercury, with tone, brightness and flicker to taste.
Motion
Numbers fade and light from the bottom up, or switch instantly. Every tube cycles through all ten on the hour.
Burn-in
The tubes drift a few pixels over several minutes, so nothing burns into an OLED screen. On by default.
Lock screen
Hides the macOS clock while it runs, so it’s just the tubes.
Notch
Hover over the notch and a little row of tubes drops down. Click it to go full screen.
Power
About 2% of one CPU core, full screen.
Privacy
No accounts and no analytics. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Requires
macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
USD

A good Nixie clock costs hundreds.

This one’s $8, and every future update is included.

Buy Nixie

One purchase covers 3 Macs. Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Questions

How do I install it?

Drag Nixie into Applications and open it. It installs its screen saver for you and can switch you over to it in one click. You’ll also find it in System Settings → Wallpaper → Screen Saver.

Will it burn in my display?

No. The tubes drift slowly around the screen, so no pixel stays lit in one place for long. That’s on unless you turn it off.

What happens when I unlock my Mac?

The bottom of the screen clears for the password field, and the tubes fade out as you unlock. If you’d rather keep the macOS clock, turn off “Hide system clock during screen saver” in Settings.

Will it drain my battery?

Barely. Full screen on a 14-inch MacBook Pro it uses about 2% of one CPU core, or closer to 1% with flicker off. It only draws when a number changes or a tube flickers, and not at all when it’s off screen.

Does it collect any data?

No. There’s no analytics, and nothing is sent anywhere. Here’s the privacy policy.

Will there be more tubes?

Yes. Nixie starts with the IN-14, and more tube models are coming as free updates. An iPhone and iPad version is on the way too.