According to MacRumors, developer Simon Støvring has released the 2025 holiday update for his Festivitas app, adding gently falling snow effects that interact with your mouse cursor and expand across multiple displays. The update includes new Shortcuts integration that lets users schedule when lights and snow effects begin appearing. Snow can be displayed over all app windows or just on the desktop, and users can now import and export custom color palettes. The Mac version requires accessibility permissions to modify the dock and starts at 4 euros with customer-selected fair pricing, while the iOS/iPadOS version ranges from $3.99 to $9.99 on the App Store. Both versions are available for immediate download ahead of the holiday season.
The pay-what-you-want holiday spirit
Here’s what I find interesting about Festivitas – it’s using that “customer-selected fair pricing” model that’s become popular with indie developers. Basically, you can download the Mac version from their website and pay what you think it’s worth, starting at 4 euros. The iPhone and iPad version on the App Store gives you a range from $3.99 to $9.99. It’s a clever approach for what’s essentially a seasonal novelty app. Makes you wonder – do people pay more during the holidays because they’re feeling generous?
More than just pretty lights
This isn’t just another decorative app. The snow physics that part around your cursor and span multiple monitors shows some real technical polish. And the Shortcuts integration? That’s smart. Being able to schedule when the holiday effects kick in means you’re not stuck with Christmas lights in your menu bar from November through January. It’s the kind of thoughtful feature that separates a well-designed utility from a simple novelty. The fact that it requires accessibility permissions to modify the dock shows Apple’s security framework in action too – even festive apps need to play by the rules.
The economics of seasonal software
Think about it – developing an app that people only really want for a few weeks each year. That’s a tough business model. But Støvring seems to have found a niche with Festivitas. By offering both Mac and iOS versions, he’s creating a small ecosystem of holiday cheer. The customization features like color palettes and display options give it staying power beyond a single season. And honestly, in a world of subscription everything, a one-time payment for some digital holiday spirit feels refreshingly old-school. It’s a nice reminder that not every app needs to be a life-changing productivity tool – sometimes, just making your computer feel a bit more festive is enough.
