[Solved] Security Update 2020-005 breaks swift-based screensavers

iScreensaver 6 Announcements
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It appears that Security Update 2020-005 is causing trouble with Screen Savers which are built using the Swift Runtime, which includes screensavers built with iScreensaver, as well as others.

Symptoms: after updating to Security Update 2020-005 on macOS 10.14 Mojave:

  1. Swift-built screensavers no longer funcion
  2. You will get a blank screen when the screensaver activates the first time.
  3. After the first time, the screensaver will revert to the default macOS screensaver
  4. Attempts to view the screensaver in System Preferences / Desktop & Screen Saver will give a blank page
  5. Crash logs indicate that the com.apple.preference.desktopscreeneffect.screeneffects.remoteservice process is crashing

We are investigating the issue and hope to have more soon.

In the mean time, if you are using any swift-based screensavers on macOS and want to run the 2020-005 Security Update, we recommend you temporarily switch back to one of the default macOS screensavers until this issue is resolved.

Alternatively, you could delay installing Security Update 2020-005, but it’s generally not a good idea to skip security updates like this.

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Related Links:

  1. https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/662003
    2. https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial/issues/1107
    3. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251846939
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Updated Info:

  1. This problem seems to only happen on 10.14 Mojave
  2. The order in which you install Safari 14 and Security Update 2020-005 matters - if you installed Safari 14 first, then you will have the issue.
  3. The only workaround at the present time is to reinstall macOS 10.14.6 Mojave
  4. We are hoping that Apple will release an improved Security Update which fixes these issues.
    see 1. https://mrmacintosh.com/mojave-2020-005-security-update-causing-major-problems-updated/
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Update: Apple has released 10.14.6 Supplemental Update which appears to resolve the issues: 10.14.6 Supplemental Update (Safari 14) Released to Fix Previous Issues

After installing this, you will need to open the Desktop & Screen Savers control panel and re-select the screensaver you wish to use.