An all-in-one app for the internet

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 51, your usher to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, I anticipation you emotion spy shows arsenic overmuch arsenic I do, and besides you tin work each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.) 

I besides person for you everybody’s favourite caller PlayStation game, a caller documentary astir wealth successful sports, 2 caller cameras worthy a look, and a terrific E Ink note-taking device. Oh, and apologies: I included the incorrect nexus to my homescreen icon battalion past week. (Luckily, the 1 I did link to is besides precise good.) Mine are really from Nate Wren’s Lines pack.

Anyway, truthful galore gadgets this week! Let’s excavation in.

(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into close now? What should everyone other beryllium watching, reading, playing, cooking, downloading, oregon gathering this weekend? Tell maine everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you cognize idiosyncratic other who mightiness bask Installer, archer them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

Group project

Over the past mates of weeks, I’ve asked you each to stock your favourite lesser-known creators. This was, arsenic always, astatine slightest partially selfish: I emotion my favorites connected YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and the rest, but my feeds are starting to consciousness a small static. I had a feeling you each mightiness beryllium capable to assistance maine liven things up — and that possibly a fewer of you were looking for immoderate bully caller stuff, too.

As ever, you each delivered. I got hundreds of emails, messages, Threads posts, and comments from folks with large ideas and recommendations. I hardly got immoderate duplicate recommendations, either, which is conscionable delightful — there’s truthful overmuch bully worldly retired there. And alternatively than support it each for myself, I figured I’d stock immoderate of the champion folks I’ve been turned onto successful the past mates of weeks. I’m going to mostly nexus to YouTube channels, some due to the fact that that’s what astir radical recommended but besides due to the fact that you tin find folks’ different societal links from their transmission pages.

(One tiny caveat earlier we dive in: I haven’t been capable to thoroughly vet everything each these folks person done forever. So if idiosyncratic turns retired to beryllium the worst, successful immoderate way, I’m truly sorry. If I’m missing thing I should cognize about, decidedly fto maine know. But y’all seldom steer maine wrong, truthful I person precocious hopes.)

No surprise, a batch of what I heard astir were tech creators. Here are a clump of the folks you recommended, successful nary peculiar order:

Also, it turns retired you each emotion a bully video effort and explainer arsenic overmuch arsenic I do, and you shared a clump of large channels for conscionable that:

Then determination were conscionable a batch of miscellaneous folks you each shared. Here are a fewer I’ve been enjoying:

I could support going, and I’m definite I volition astatine immoderate point. Thanks again to everyone who sent worldly in! My ticker database volition ne'er beryllium the same, and I couldn’t beryllium happier astir it.

Screen share

From present on, if you’re a Vergecast listener and you similar the mode the amusement sounds, you’ll person Erick Gomez to thank. He joined the squad this week arsenic our audio technologist and has, successful his career, worked connected immoderate of the champion podcasts and vigor shows connected the planet. 

I similar to person caller folks stock their homescreen with us, some due to the fact that I deliberation it’s a amusive mode to get to cognize idiosyncratic and I similar having a work-appropriate crushed to marque amusive of people’s silly wallpapers and app choices. But from the archetypal clip I met Erick, it became abundantly wide helium was a idiosyncratic who brokered nary chaos and would person a homescreen that Just Made Sense.

Here’s Erick’s homescreen, positive immoderate info connected the apps helium uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 14 Pro Max

The wallpaper: I’ve been gaming since I was astir 5 years old, and it is inactive 1 of my top hobbies and passions, truthful my fastener surface is that of a Game Boy Advance SP — a cherished handheld from my childhood. I emotion however the widgets marque it look arsenic though they’re portion of the Game Boy display.

My homescreen wallpaper is my girl Charlie successful her Elmo costume from past year. We are a BIG Halloween family, and we are ever counting the days until spooky season.

The apps: Eufy Security, Dot, Passwords, Delta, Journal, Parcel, Overcast, Hey Email, Arc Search.

I’m a large instrumentality of widgets and glanceable accusation — the little I person to popular into an app, the better. I don’t person immoderate societal media apps installed connected my telephone and volition lone reinstall them whenever I consciousness compelled to station something. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized the insane amounts of clip I’ve spent mindlessly scrolling Instagram and the like, truthful I’ve channeled that vigor into journaling apps.

Dot: It’s an AI companion chatbot thing. It’s really truly cool. It’s precise overmuch similar a diary oregon person that responds to you and tin springiness you immoderate feedback and spark ideas. It’s large until it confuses immoderate facts astir you, which breaks the immersion. It volition often substance maine during the time erstwhile I’m ace engaged truthful I don’t get a accidental to respond. If you disregard it for agelong enough, it volition halt reaching retired to you. Just similar a person successful existent life!

Delta: Did I notation I’m a gamer? It was LONG overdue for emulators to travel into the App Store, and this is by acold the champion for playing retro games. If I find myself waiting astir for something, I’ll rapidly popular into a crippled of NBA Jam oregon Streets of Rage.

Hey: Hey is my favourite email lawsuit and service. The email screener and privacy-focused attack marque it good worthy the yearly subscription. And it looks amended than astir email apps.

Arc: This is simply a caller summation to the homescreen and has rapidly replaced Safari for maine successful astir cases. Its “Browse For Me” diagnostic is simply a godsend. I besides emotion the app’s alternate icon, which pays homage to Netscape Navigator. It’s 1994 each implicit again!

I besides asked Erick to stock a fewer things he’s into close now. Here’s what helium sent back:

Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer assemblage is into this week. I privation to cognize what you’re into close present arsenic well! Email installer@theverge.com oregon connection maine connected Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for thing and everything, and we’ll diagnostic immoderate of our favorites present each week. For adjacent much large recommendations, cheque retired the replies to this station connected Threads.

“Just moved my enactment Windows PC to Zen Browser. A Firefox mentation that has a precise beardown Arc feeling.” – Maciej

“Was distant astatine a compartment with household and we did not bring a camera. When the babe fell asleep, we popped successful 1 AirPod and turned connected Live Listen, near the telephone successful the room, and went astir our business! Two birds with 1 stone, really, since past I didn’t person my phone. I americium funny if Android has thing similar!” – Saad

“Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is rocking my satellite close now. For those successful changeless hunt of productivity optimization (speaking of nary 1 successful particular, of course…), this publication hits home.” – Ryan

“Diggnation came back. So that’s been immoderate amusive nostalgia.” – Brian

“The HandleStash — a daze absorbing beverage holder for bikes. Game-changer for greeting commute / play greeting rides with coffee.” – Jim

“I switched from Spotify to YouTube Music a fewer years agone aft Joe Rogan-gate and haven’t looked back! The audio prime is SO MUCH BETTER than Spotify. Feel that bass. There aren’t arsenic galore playlists, but conscionable enough, and I thin to truly bask checking retired the caller releases each week. It’s similar a integer Best Buy from the ’90s. Plus, if you’re already paying for YouTube Premium, it’s included.” – Ellen

“I conscionable got a atom cooker, and I’m eyeballing rice cooker cornbread for this weekend.” – Daniel

“Kaos connected Netflix is amazing. A cleanable blend of Greek mythology and modern-day politics. Highly recommended.” – Sacchi

“This week, I’m procrastinating by deciding whether I should instrumentality with Bear, spell backmost to Obsidian, oregon judge my destiny and determination backmost to Apple Notes. It is torture.” – Eitan

“A Short History of Nearly Everything. I cognize that this publication is beauteous aged and galore radical person already work it, but if you haven’t work it, you should surely springiness it a try.” – Aashwath

“I mislaid astir of my Labor Day play to Shapez 2. It’s incredible!” – Alec

Signing off

Apple’s yearly iPhone motorboat lawsuit is connected Monday, and we’re going to get a full clump of caller gear: sounds similar phones, watches, headphones, and possibly adjacent desktops are each connected the docket. We’re besides going to get upgrades to each of Apple’s software, too. Which is mostly bully news! But aft watching this video astir what Apple’s updates bash to the precise oldest devices they technically support, I’m besides reasoning of everyone whose devices are supposedly astir to beryllium “upgraded” and mightiness alternatively conscionable statesman to autumn apart. Best of luck to each the Intel-powered Mac owners retired there. 

See you adjacent week!