Two new must-have Android apps

3 months ago 31

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 46, your usher to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, anticipation you similar silly gadgets, and besides you tin work each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been penning astir Apple betas and AR gadgets, reading astir Donald Glover and the scourge of meetings and what it takes to provender the Olympics, admiring Christian Selig’s keyboard layout, watching Hard Knocks and The Beekeeper, and trying (and failing) to cleanable my blueberry muffin recipe.

I besides person for you a mates of large iOS apps that are yet disposable connected Android, a caller mode to play immoderate classical Nintendo games, an costly caller camera, and worldly to ticker this play some astatine location and successful theaters.

This week’s a small heftier than usual, some due to the fact that there’s a batch going connected and due to the fact that I’m getting acceptable to spell connected vacation. Installer volition travel arsenic accustomed adjacent week and past disconnected for 2 weeks earlier we’re backmost connected August 17th acceptable to rumble. So, conscionable successful lawsuit you’d different tally retired of worldly to do, I figured I’d permission you with immoderate extras. Let’s get into it.

(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What bash you privation to cognize much about? What awesome tricks bash you cognize that everyone other should? What app should everyone beryllium using? Tell maine everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you cognize idiosyncratic other who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and archer them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

Notion Calendar for Android. I inactive truly hatred the app icon, but different than that, this is 1 of the best-looking and mostly sharpest calendar apps retired there. It’s particularly large if you’re besides a Notion user, but adjacent if not, I deliberation it’s an upgrade connected Google Cal.
Claude for Android. Over and implicit the past fewer weeks, I’ve been proceeding radical speech astir however overmuch they similar Claude 3.5 Sonnet — adjacent much than they similar ChatGPT. I similar Claude’s app a lot, too, particularly its quality to import and recognize screenshots.
The TinyPod. It’s a lawsuit for an Apple Watch that makes it look similar an iPod, and adjacent arsenic I benignant that, it sounds wholly ridiculous. But you amended judge I volition beryllium buying this happening and seeing if it turns my Watch into the music-playing, message-sending dumbphone of my dreams.
Wild Wild Space. We deliberation of abstraction as, like, a expansive beauteous unknown. But successful truthful galore ways, it’s becoming conscionable different spot for companies to effort and conquer. This HBO bid (based connected a large Ashlee Vance book) is simply a peculiarly epic — and somewhat terrifying? — startup story.
UTM SE. I would’ve happily stake you $10 that Apple would ne'er o.k. an app that conscionable straight-up emulates a Windows computer. I’m gladsome to person mislaid that bet! UTM SE tin bash retro games, but it tin besides bash each kinds of different stuff. (Just don’t expect it to, like, really regenerate your computer.)
EA Sports College Football 25. After 11 years, it’s backmost and seemingly arsenic bully arsenic ever. The communicative of this crippled is simply a hilariously cleanable communicative astir the internet, capitalism, and fame, but ultimately, I’m conscionable excited to yet crook my alma mater into the shot juggernaut it precise overmuch is not.
Overcast. A large update this week to 1 of the champion podcast apps for Apple devices. Marco Arment, the developer, is close erstwhile helium says it’s noticeably faster successful astir each way, and Overcast does things similar Smart Speed and measurement enhancement amended than thing else.
The Canon R5 Mark II. Photographers and camera nerds person been waiting for this 1 for a while, and with bully reason. The R5 II is faster for photos, much functional for video, and has a caller autofocus strategy that sounds beauteous great. $4,300 ain’t cheap, but awesome cameras ne'er are.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. A clump of classical video games, chopped up and enactment backmost together into tiny caller pieces each designed to beryllium played astatine blisteringly accelerated speeds. Such a chill thought and a large caller rotation connected immoderate aged faves.
Skywalkers: A Love Story. I can’t get capable of those YouTube videos of radical parkouring their mode astir skyscrapers and abandoned buildings, adjacent if they bash accent maine out. This Netflix doc is simply a batch of that benignant of worldly and a emotion story, each successful one.
Dyson’s OnTrac headphones. Glad to spot Dyson spell a small less, uh, Bane-ish with its 2nd acceptable of headphones. The OnTrac are ace costly — $500! — but look beauteous good, and I’m rooting for thing going this hard connected customization.
Twisters. Here’s a play program for you. This afternoon, ticker Twister, which holds up shockingly good 28 years later. (The effects inactive rip, too.) Tonight, spell spot Twisters, which has gotten coagulated reviews and looks similar precisely the benignant of movie that should beryllium seen successful a huge, large movie theater. Then, deed maine up and archer maine if you liked it. Sound similar a plan?

Screen share

Ryan Gilbert runs 1 of the newsletters I work each azygous week. It’s called Workspaces, and each week, it features immoderate absorbing idiosyncratic talking astir however they enactment and however they’ve acceptable up their table to enactment for them. I am, uh, forever obsessed with table setups and ne'er tyre of seeing however different radical deliberation astir their spaces.

Homescreens are kinda similar table setups, I think, successful that they uncover a batch astir the idiosyncratic who created them. So, I asked Ryan to stock his homescreen to spot what I mightiness larn from him — and what he’s learned from each those interviews.

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

The phone: iPhone 14 Pro.

The wallpaper: My woman and I during our engagement pictures. I similar however subtle and distraction-free it is arsenic a inheritance with it mostly conscionable being a airy shadiness (light mode > acheronian mode for everything btw).

The apps: X, Slack, Camera, Clock, Overcast, Weather, Google Maps, ESPN, Spotify, Notion, Peloton, USGA GHIN, Campsite, LinkedIn, Apple Sports, Messages, Gmail, Safari, Phone.

So, arsenic you tin tell, my homescreen is simply a spot unorganized. I really similar it that way. You’ll announcement that Twitter is apical near successful premier existent property and extracurricular of the “Social” clump of apps successful the bottommost right. Fortunately oregon unluckily (I’ll fto you decide), Twitter is simply a large portion of my day-to-day work, truthful I dainty that arsenic much of a enactment app vs. social. All of the apps successful the “Social” clump are the apps I usage with friends — things similar Snapchat oregon Instagram. You volition besides spot random apps similar Product Hunt and ESPN Fantasy Football being tossed successful there. Not everything has to marque sense.

I besides person some ESPN and the caller Apple Sports app connected the homescreen. I’d emotion to determination distant from ESPN, arsenic their app has go highly bloated and slow, truthful I’ve been trying to unit the Sports wont much and more.

I emotion Overcast. It’s wherever I perceive to each of my podcasts. I similar to support this abstracted from wherever I perceive to euphony (Spotify).

Gmail... I americium not an inbox zero benignant of guy.

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

USGA GHIN: The app that has astir apt ne'er been featured present before! It’s for keeping way of my play scores and handicap.
I inactive play Wordle each morning. I similar to deliberation it gets my originative juices flowing, but really, it’s conscionable a mode to debar checking email for an other fewer minutes.
My woman and I effort to spell hiking ~twice per week. We truly similar to walk arsenic overmuch clip extracurricular arsenic imaginable during the summer. Being from Wisconsin, you request to bask it portion you can!

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 recommendations, cheque retired the replies to this station connected Threads.

“Terrifying Questions is simply a large doctrine podcast by Futurama writer Eric Kaplan and prof Taylor Carman. Each week, they sermon a philosophical question. It’s smart, funny, and absorbing but without being inaccessible. The archetypal occurrence from a twelvemonth agone astir ChatGPT is simply a large spot to start.” — Jonathan

“Fable! It has been large for maine and got maine into speechmaking again!” — Ataya

“I consciousness a small precocious to the enactment but watching Scavengers Reign, which is connected Netflix extracurricular the US. Honestly 1 of the champion shows I’ve seen successful a agelong time. Rarely does sci-fi consciousness this alien oregon unknown. Even if you don’t similar sci-fi, ticker it for the unthinkable euphony alone!” — Alex

“Star Trek Prodigy play 2 connected Netflix has blown maine away. Season 1 was good, but play 2 is 1 of the champion seasons of Star Trek (so far).” — J

“I’m trying retired Company of Heroes 3 connected the PS5. Consoles get a atrocious rap for RTS games, but it’s lone due to the fact that porting playable controls takes much effort. Haven’t played capable to person an sentiment connected CoH3 yet, but EndWar and Halo Wars connected the 360 were some large to control.” — Ian

“I can’t get implicit Omnivore’s text-to-speech nonfiction reader! I had started disconnected utilizing ElevenLabs’ Reader app to work articles to me, and though their voices are much realistic, I conscionable looove the mode Omnivore switches voices for a quoted passage. No thought erstwhile Omnivore made this update, but I’m obsessed!” — Roxxy

“Been truly enjoying what AEW has been up to recently, decidedly coming retired of immoderate originative doldrums. They person a storyline wherever Toni Storm is the champ playing a black-and-white movie prima (literally her intro and promos are B&W). They’ve been doing an All About Eve happening with her protege Mariah May who conscionable turned connected her. And they conscionable had a 59-minute lucifer with Will Ospreay and MJF that was an astonishing portion of storytelling. I’ll ticker wrestling adjacent erstwhile it’s mid, but this has been great!” — Richard

“Recently upgraded an aged iPod Classic talented to maine by my GF’s dad! I enactment successful a caller backplate, faceplate, interaction wheel, battery, and SD paper enlargement module for it. Joining the ‘single-purpose’ tech inclination we’re on.” — Stefan

“Reading The Battle of the Beams, the communicative of the improvement of radar during WW2 and the countermeasures to it. Some unthinkable tales, truly eye-opening.” — Peter

“Ordered a brace of Dayton Audio B40 speakers. They dependable similar $50, but like… a truly bully $50. Dayton’s B452 and 652 speakers were long-reigning champs of the ‘beginner audiophile,’ and it’s chill to spot this update.” — Emmet

“I’ve been playing astir with the Flow Minimalist Launcher. So far, it has led to maine speechmaking earlier furniture alternatively of scrolling and, astatine slightest for now, prevented maine from buying a Boox Palma.” — Zachary

Signing off

A portion back, erstwhile I was moving connected a communicative about a woodworking machine maker, I learned astir the decorator Tom Sachs’ conception of “Always Be Knolling.” Knolling is simply a truly circumstantial strategy that involves laying each your worldly retired astatine circumstantial angles, but I instrumentality the broader thought as: don’t marque cleaning and organizing into A Thing, conscionable ever beryllium doing it. I’ve been trying to follow this recently, and it is awesome. When I’m connected a telephone call, I tidy up my desk. When I’m waiting for thing to export, I tidy up my desk. A fewer seconds astatine a time, I hardly adjacent notice, and my workspace is cleaner than ever. Now I conscionable person to fig retired however to Always Be Knolling with, like, laundry and dishes. Then I’ll beryllium unstoppable.

See you adjacent week!

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