How to manage your Samsung The Frame art from your Mac

Samsung The Frame turns your TV into a piece of art when you are not watching it. Loading your own pictures from the TV or a phone, one at a time, is slow. This guide shows how to do it from your Mac instead, with FrameDeck.

Before you start

• A Samsung The Frame on the same network as your Mac.
• A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later).

1. Install the app

Download FrameDeck from its page and open the .dmg. Drag the app to Applications. The app is not yet notarised by Apple, so the first launch may be blocked: open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. You only need to do this once.

2. Allow local network access

macOS asks whether FrameDeck can find devices on your network. Allow it: without it the app cannot see your TV.

3. Pair your TV

Let FrameDeck scan the network, or enter the TV's IP address (on the TV: Settings > General > Network). The first time, the TV shows a prompt: accept it with the remote. If you never see the prompt, open Settings > General > External Device Manager > Device Connection Manager on the TV and set Access Notification to First Access Only or Always.

4. Add your pictures

Drop photos or whole folders onto the app. For each photo, FrameDeck compares it with the 3840×2160 screen and shows a sharpness badge, so you know whether the TV will have to enlarge it. Photos that are not 16:9 get a suggested treatment: crop to fill, fit, or fit with a soft blurred background, with a live preview. Choose a mat style and colour, or none, then send to one TV or several.

5. Keep it fresh

Turn on automatic rotation (from 3 minutes to a week, shuffled or in order) and set the brightness. Select several images to delete them or copy them to another TV. Duplicates are detected, so nothing is sent twice.

A note on reliability

Samsung does not publish an official interface for this, and behaviour can differ between TV models and software versions. FrameDeck asks the TV to confirm actions instead of assuming they worked. FrameDeck is independent and not affiliated with Samsung.