Hello, mates! Welcome to Installer No. 18, your information to one of the best and Verge-iest stuff on this planet. (For those who’re new right here, hiya, glad holidays, and likewise you possibly can learn all of the outdated editions on the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been combing this checklist for brand spanking new board video games to strive, studying about the NFL’s obsession with ping pong and the rise of chess influencers and the wacky historical past of Yahoo Pipes, watching Lupe Fiasco completely clarify how rap works, testing Anytype as a Notion different, attempting to determine tips on how to justify shopping for myself a Lego Polaroid, and including Us to all my phrases on Threads to welcome my European mates.
I even have for you a brand new approach to play Grand Theft Auto, some new AI-powered note-taking and journaling instruments, new stuff to observe this weekend, a glance into the creator financial system, and way more.
I even have a query. We solely have another Installer this yr, so I figured now’s the time to do it: what was your favourite factor of 2023? I promise I gained’t maintain this to, like, a authorized commonplace of that is your solely favourite endlessly. However whenever you look again on the final 12 months, what new present / e-book / weblog / app / creator entered your life that you just’re significantly glad about? Inform me one, or two, or three! Doesn’t need to be new this yr, simply new to you. E-mail [email protected], or textual content / WhatsApp me at (203) 570-8663, and inform me every little thing. All issues Favorites, coming your method in two weeks.
(As at all times, one of the best a part of Installer is your concepts and ideas. What do you wish to know extra about? What superior methods have you learnt that everybody else ought to? What app ought to everybody be utilizing? Inform me every little thing: [email protected]. And if you wish to get Installer in your e-mail inbox a day early, subscribe right here.)
The Drop
- The NPR app. For those who gave me $100, I couldn’t let you know the distinction between the NPR One app and the NPR app, or why they each existed. Fortunately, they don’t anymore! There may be simply the brand new and good NPR app, which does a superb job of each curating tales into newsy playlists and simply enjoying the reveals I’m on the lookout for.
- The GTA trilogy on Netflix. Netflix’s gaming providing is changing into actually spectacular, actually shortly. For those who’re a subscriber, you now have free entry to a bunch of excellent video games, together with three all-timer GTA titles: San Andreas, Vice Metropolis, and GTA III. They’re outdated, however they nonetheless rip.
- Finalist. One of many niftier to-do checklist apps I’ve seen shortly. My most important problem with Finalist initially was I hated the colour decisions. With the brand new model, you possibly can design the app any method you need! And it’s nonetheless a super-simple and fairly intelligent duties system.
- How A lot I Make on TikTok vs Shorts vs Reels from Hank Inexperienced. No one explains the creator financial system like Hank Inexperienced. (For those who’ve by no means seen his rant in opposition to TikTok and creator funds, go watch it.) That is an unusually trustworthy, and sort of bleak, take a look at how a lot cash there actually is on this recreation and the place it comes from.
- Journaling Options in Day One. Once I wrote about Apple’s Journal app — which is out for everybody now in iOS 17.2! — I mentioned that Journaling Options, the API that combs by way of your images, actions, places, music, and extra to give you stuff to journal about, was probably the most intriguing a part of the product. Day One, my favourite journaling app, now integrates Options proper into the app. It really works rather well.
- Epic’s vacation sale. This is among the higher “free games!” offers you’ll discover: Epic is giving freely a collection of older titles over the course of the vacation season. Proper now it’s the Future 2: Legacy Assortment, which is a large quantity of Future content material — and there are 16 extra video games left to assert. I’ll be maintaining a tally of this one over the following few days.
- The brand new Apple TV app. Each day, I swear, my Roku TV will get a little bit slower. And every single day, I get a little bit nearer to only plugging in an Apple TV. I actually like what Apple’s attempting to do with this app — common search, cross-platform suggestions, straightforward shopping for and renting — regardless that it’s lacking Netflix and some different essential companies.
- NotebookLM. Google’s AI-powered notes app nonetheless doesn’t have many options, and I nonetheless don’t completely perceive why it’s not only a characteristic of Hold or Docs… however it’s a nifty app nonetheless. Add your docs, summarize them, ask questions on them, make learning or researching a little bit simpler.
- Xbox Cloud Gaming on Quest 3. This is likely to be one of the best purpose but to purchase a VR headset. For those who’re a Recreation Cross subscriber, now you can join your controller, fireplace up an enormous digital TV, and play video games from anyplace. That is going to turn into a part of my bedtime routine method too shortly.
Deep dive
For a extremely very long time, Instapaper was the most-used app on my cellphone. (This was again within the pre-TikTok period, after I spent extra time studying and fewer time scrolling. However let’s not dwell on that change.) I learn loads for work, I’ll learn any celeb profile anyplace, and I’m endlessly on the lookout for a greater approach to handle all of the stuff I’ve to learn.
This yr, sort of by chance, I wound up doing a tour of all one of the best choices. And excellent news, there are a bunch of them! Instapaper continues to be nice; Matter is attractive; Omnivore is tremendous highly effective; Upnext is doing a little intelligent AI stuff; even Pocket nonetheless does the job, although I dislike a number of its current design adjustments. We’re form of spoiled for alternative on this division.
However I’ve discovered the one for me, a minimum of for now. It’s Readwise Reader, which works on iOS, Android, and the online. It’s nonetheless technically in beta however is already completely indispensable in my life and workflow. Right here’s just a few the reason why:
- Reader can deal with every little thing. It can save you articles, add books, add movies, import RSS feeds, subscribe to newsletters, and extra. The app does a extremely good job of sorting issues into the best locations, so that you’re not simply caught with a large mass of stuff. However it might probably parse, retailer, and arrange virtually something of any file kind, and I adore it for that.
- It’s greater than only a queue. The very first thing I liked about Reader was the homescreen, which reveals you classes like “quick reads,” “long reads,” and “recently added.” There’s additionally a Digest characteristic that simply grabs a bunch of stuff you’ve saved and tells you to learn it in the present day. I attempt to get by way of my digest every single day, and so I’m really studying stuff I saved greater than ever.
- It’s additionally sort of a note-taking app. Readwise’s unique shtick was to compile all of your notes and highlights from locations like Kindle and Pocket right into a searchable, reviewable archive. With Reader, I can spotlight something I add, or any stay webpage altogether, and every little thing goes into that very same notes archive — all of which might sync to Notion, Obsidian, or different note-taking apps, too. All my studying, and all my notes, now stay in the identical place.
- You possibly can… learn… video. I watch a number of YouTube, for, uh, journalism. Reader provides a (good however not excellent) transcript to each video you save, so you possibly can spotlight and take notes identical to on an article. Every part will get time-stamped, too, so yow will discover it later. It’s so useful.
- It’s tremendous quick. One purpose I’ve stopped utilizing Reader prior to now is that the app was sort of sluggish. A kind of apps that at all times felt prefer it was working, you already know what I imply? However just lately it has been slimmed down and sped up, and now it feels fairly zippy — besides when it’s loading the AI voice to learn an article aloud, which takes endlessly, however I don’t take care of that characteristic a lot anyway.
I solely have two ongoing points with Reader, actually. One, it’s not probably the most enticing app; it feels extra Productiveness Device than Lovely Studying House, you already know? (I hate the app icon, too. Fingers crossed there’s a greater one coming.) And two, it really may need too many options for my style. You possibly can add tags, there’s an Inbox and a Feed and Library and a Later and an Archive, there are one million Views, simply determining the place every little thing goes takes some time. Oh, and a bonus third factor: it’s not low cost. The entire Readwise service — be aware syncing, Kindle integration, all that — prices $8 a month. Properly price it, should you ask me, however not low cost.
Talking of: should you use this hyperlink, I believe you’ll get two free months earlier than you begin paying as an alternative of only one. Give it a whirl, let me know what you suppose and what you utilize to learn in your gadgets!
Display share
Tom Warren’s house workplace might be cooler than yours. It’s positively cooler than mine! He has a teleprompter, an outrageously cool custom-built PC, some sick wall artwork, and extra. Tom is a setup connoisseur, along with being The Verge’s most important authority on all issues Microsoft, and I recognize him for each issues.
If you need all of the desk-setup deets, yow will discover them on Reddit or ping Tom on Threads. However I wished to know if he cares for his small display screen as a lot as the massive ones, so I requested him to share his homescreen with us.
Right here’s Tom’s homescreen, plus some data on the apps he makes use of and why:
The cellphone: iPhone 15 Professional.
The wallpaper: One in all The Verge ones I believe. (Editor’s be aware: it’s this one.)
The apps: Telephone, Clock, Photographs, Digicam, App Retailer, Telegram, Messages, Settings, Slack, YouTube, Google Dwelling, Discord, Instagram, Unread, Twitch, Xbox, WhatsApp, Outlook, Chrome, X, Threads, Bluesky.
The 2 widgets are sensible ones that rotate between Spotify and my 30-min electrical energy price on the best, and my calendar and the climate on the left. The electrical energy one is there to watch one of the best instances to run home equipment and cost my EV, as a result of electrical prices within the UK spiraled after the invasion of Ukraine. I even have fast entry to my safety cameras by way of Google Dwelling, which itself has widgets for sensible house controls. I’ve X, Threads, and Bluesky multi functional simply accessible folder as a result of I can’t determine which one replaces Twitter!
I additionally requested Tom to share just a few issues he’s into proper now. Right here’s what he shared:
- The Wombles. I used to be an enormous fan of The Wombles rising up as a child, so after I’m not listening to EDM loudly in my headphones, you’ll discover me listening to an episode of The Wombles on BBC Sounds. It’s delightfully stress-free, due to the voice performing of Richard E. Grant.
- TeeDee. TeeDee got here on my radar when he did a mixture of Dave and Secondcity’s “I Wanna Feel” final yr. Since then I’m absolutely invested in his SoundCloud as a result of he continuously produces absolute bangers.
- The Finals. I’m obsessive about The Finals in the meanwhile. It’s a harmful first-person enviornment shooter that’s blowing up on Twitch and Steam. It’s a giant break from the standard Name of Responsibility, Overwatch, or battle royale components, and I can’t cease smiling after I discover some new approach to explode buildings within the recreation.
Crowdsourced
Right here’s what the Installer neighborhood is into this week. I wish to know what you’re into proper now as properly! E-mail [email protected] together with your suggestions for something and every little thing, and we’ll characteristic a few of our favorites right here each week.
“I used this shelf app called Anybox. This app is a box to quickly access any type of item: image, text, document, and links. The app allows customization for default action based on saved item type, we can preview, copy, share, and so on.” — Krishna
“Watching Fisk on Netflix. This Australian quirky comedy just released a second season this month. I love the short 25-minute episodes, makes it easy to watch and enjoy.” — Carter
“As you were talking about media organization / collection apps, please check out the game-tracking app developed by IGN called Playlist. It is free and I am liking it.” — OK
“Analogue Duo baybee.” — Chris
“AI wallpapers on the Google Pixel! I’ve been hooked on creating AI wallpapers and it feels like the combinations are truly endless. Going from an AI-generated painting of a mountain and spaceships to a surreal castle made of muslin with different color shades is wildly fun!” — Michael
“Listening to The Vergecast podcast on how Twitter officially died this year and Watching Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes animation.” — Paul
“If it hasn’t been mentioned yet, or even if it has, you should check out the show Scavengers Reign on Max. Brilliant and freaky sci-fi wonderfulness!” — Edward
“Using Calibre to subscribe to newsletters / newspapers and have them appear on my kindle every morning gives me a beautiful little ‘slow internet’ experience while I sip my coffee.” — Jon
“This week I discovered Mammoth, an insanely gorgeous Mastodon app. Until now I’ve not been able to see past Ivory. Also Longplay is a brilliant iOS app to rediscover my album collection in Apple Music.” — Chris
“Spotify audiobooks. I know you don’t own the audiobooks after but it is really convenient to get 15 hours for free. It’s enough to get me through at least one medium-sized book each month. I use it with Libby and Audible to read a bunch during the month!” — Harrison
Signing off
This week, The Verge revealed one in every of my favourite packages we’ve ever completed, all in regards to the demise of Twitter. The tales are good, learn all of them, however severely, y’all: it’s a must to go to The Nice Scrollback of Alexandria and spend a couple of minutes / hours / months scrolling by way of hundreds of one of the best tweets of all time. The checklist reorders each time you open the web page, and if there’s a backside of the checklist, I positive haven’t discovered it. Twitter was really a deranged, horrible, fantastic place. And should you get to the 3944 tweet (you’ll comprehend it whenever you see it), simply know that I laughed for absolutely quarter-hour at that tweet. I hope you do, too.
We’re off subsequent week for the vacation. Hope you’ve got an important one, and see you in two weeks!