Hello, buddies! Welcome to Installer No. 49, your information to one of the best and Verge-iest stuff on the planet. (When you’re new right here, welcome, hope you want podcasts, and in addition you possibly can learn all of the previous editions on the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been studying about upstart baseball teams and canceled comics and Francis Ford Coppola, watching Logan Lucky, binging Teo Crawford’s camera videos, listening to The Mess Around and thus rewatching New Girl for the millionth time, attempting to plan a trip to the Nintendo Museum this fall, and giving Capacities one other whirl since Casey Newton recommended it this week.
I even have for you a bunch of latest podcasts that each one launched this week for some purpose, some wonderful smartphone pictures, a purpose to hit the movie show this weekend, and a brand new doorbell to interchange your previous doorbell.
And within the spirit of this unexpectedly podcast-filled week, I’ve a query: who’s your favourite lesser-known creator? Everyone knows and love Veritasium and MKBHD, however I need to hear about all those that deserve simply as a lot shine. YouTube, podcast, Instagram, take your choose — in the event that they’re tech-y and Verge-ish, nice, but when not, that’s nice, too! Hit me with one or two of your faves that you just guess most of us don’t know. I’ll share a few of my faves, too.
All proper, massive week of enjoyable stuff. Let’s go.
(As at all times, one of the best a part of Installer is your concepts and suggestions. What do you need to know extra about? What superior methods are you aware that everybody else ought to? What app ought to everybody be utilizing? Inform me every part: installer@theverge.com. And if another person who would possibly take pleasure in Installer, inform them to subscribe here.)
The Drop
- The iPhone Photography Awards winners. The IPPA’s photographer of the yr shoots on an iPhone 11! These successful pictures are at all times a tremendous supply of inspiration (and wallpapers, simply saying), and it’s notably cool on this AI-heavy second to see how superior photographers nonetheless are.
- The Hollywood Hack. The Sony hack was 10 years in the past, and the entire leisure enterprise remains to be feeling the ramifications. Love this pod thus far, which is thus far roughly equal elements about what occurred and what it did to Hollywood.
- Blink Twice. Channing Tatum. Taking part in a tech billionaire. In a murder-y thriller. I’m getting massive Glass Onion vibes from this one, and I couldn’t be extra excited.
- Apple Podcasts for web. Apple made an excellent internet app! I type of nonetheless can’t consider it! Apple Podcasts is a superb platform, and this goes a good distance towards making it really feel rather less locked to your particular gadgets. This plus the automated transcripts has me genuinely contemplating switching.
- OceanXplorers. This NatGeo present appears like a mixture of Planet Earth and the scene in each James Bond film the place Bond will get to check out a bunch of wildly futuristic new devices. I’m having fun with studying concerning the high-tech ship and submarines as a lot as I’m seeing the wonderful footage they’re capturing.
- “Flip Video Was Successful! So They Killed It?” I had straight-up forgotten concerning the Flip digital camera, and I had no concept what number of unusual twists and turns this product — and the corporate that made it — went via. An excellent enjoyable tech time capsule, this one.
- The Wirecutter Show. I’ve been a loyal Wirecutter shopper ceaselessly, and the brand new pod suits the location’s vibe completely. Numerous suggestions and methods, a number of behind-the-scenes testing stuff — I wound up taking livid notes throughout each of the primary two episodes.
- “Why Everything is a Monopoly… Again.” We’re in a fairly wild antitrust second, proper? This can be a brisk, broad have a look at the way it all works and the way we received to the purpose the place it doesn’t matter what you’re doing or utilizing or shopping for, you’re in all probability encountering a monopoly.
- The Ring Battery Doorbell. Longer battery, simpler set up, wider body of video, evening imaginative and prescient in coloration — it’s not a ground-breaking new concept about video doorbells, however it positive seems like a better video doorbell. If solely I may persuade myself to let me set up one…
Display screen share
I speak to Liam James extra than simply about anyone apart from my spouse — and actually, it’s an in depth name between the 2 of them. As The Verge’s supervising producer for podcasts, we do a ton of labor togetber on The Vergecast, and he’s additionally only a massive big tech nerd in one of the best ways. He likes to brag about his Plex server, appears to be consistently tweaking his selfmade climate station, and just lately described a brand new to-do listing app to me as “simply OmniFocus for dummies.” What I’m saying is, he’s our folks.
I requested Liam to share his homescreen with us as a result of if I do know one factor about Liam, it’s that each single icon and site has been exhaustively thought via and rigorously examined for optimum efficiency. Liam additionally simply purchased a Pixel 9 Professional Fold, which suggests he’s about to bear a giant change — so I figured it’d be good to seize the tip of his iPhone run.
Right here’s Liam’s homescreen, plus some information on the apps he makes use of and why:
The cellphone: iPhone 15 Professional.
The wallpaper: I’ve used the identical wallpaper for about 10 years now. It’s a foolish portray of my first canine, August, within the model of Kehinde Wiley.
The apps: Pictures, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Information, Cellphone, Mail, Safari, Messages.
- I’m a giant fan of the massive widget carousel that mechanically flips to no matter iOS thinks is most related to me. I solely maintain 3 widgets inside: Fantastical — which I’ll sorely miss once I transfer to a Pixel — Apple News, and Carrot Weather.
- I’m consistently deleting apps I not use in an effort to preserve a single-screen format. I’ve 4 folder buckets: social, purchasing, finance, and work. I do, nevertheless, fall again to the App Library display screen for hardly ever used apps like Plex throughout journey days.
- I’m SO feeling the label-less icon choice within the iOS 18 beta. Seems a lot cleaner.
I additionally requested Liam to share a couple of issues he’s into proper now. Right here’s what he despatched again:
- My job has compelled me to make use of Apple Podcasts in an effort to maintain an in depth eye on our reveals, and what? It has actually come a good distance. In my view, it’s the solely podcast app that’s able to recommending reveals you’d really need to check out. And the brand new transcript and search options are very helpful for locating that second you needed to return to.
- Since I’m working the iOS 18 public beta, I’ve been attempting out the native Mail app. I needed to see if any of the Apple Intelligence stuff might be helpful to me, however that hasn’t precisely proven up but. As a substitute, it’s principally nonetheless the identical previous barebones, slow-to-update app it at all times was.
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus is my newest podcast obsession. Like many a star podcast, it comes and goes in seasons, however in contrast to all of the others, this one has zero filler. I extremely advocate beginning with the episode featuring award-winning author Isabel Allende. A few of Allende’s life classes will stick in your head for days afterward.
Crowdsourced
Right here’s what the Installer neighborhood is into this week. I need to know what you’re into proper now as effectively! E mail installer@theverge.com or message me on Sign — @davidpierce.11 — along with your suggestions for something and every part, and we’ll function a few of our favorites right here each week. For much more nice suggestions, try the replies to this post on Threads.
“I’ve discovered Dola indispensable. It’s free — what’s free anymore? It might write to Apple Calendar and is obtainable on iMessage and WhatsApp; it’s extremely helpful as my productiveness and process tracker and wonderful for reminders.” — Andrew
“The Serpent Queen. This Starz present is about sixteenth century Queen Catherine de’ Medici of France and her travails and triumphs. There’s a lot courtroom intrigue, maybe murdering, maybe poisoning, maybe a extremely good time for the viewer. It’s presently in its 2nd season and stars Samantha Morton in the primary position and brings in Minnie Driver as Queen Elizabeth I. Hilarity ensues.” — Romeo
“I’ve been utilizing this app known as SAOViVO that’s free and open supply, and what it does is: it takes movies in your YouTube Channel, makes a queue out of them, and sends them again to YouTube as a reside feed. An instance: I work as a guide for newsrooms, they usually have a giant archive, so when the anniversary of occasions comes, we are able to make reside streams with the factor they did in earlier years, or when somebody well-known dies, we are able to try the YouTube channel and reside stream the tales about that individual.” — Nicolas
“I’ve to advocate an awesome new YouTube channel known as Graindead. A really deadpan channel about movie cameras. “Buying The Cheapest Cameras In Japan” is a must-watch. Stuffed with Traditional British self-deprecating humor. “A $1000 Lens Cap” can also be an fascinating watch.” — Owen
“Dress to Impress on Roblox. It’s like Amongst Us within the pandemic period, however for WFH ‘gurlies.’” — Sam
“I’m headed on a 5.5-hour flight to Hawaii, and I’m very a lot trying ahead to bringing the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 to, look ahead to it… play EA Sports activities FC the entire method! Was impressed by a podcast I had listened to recently, I believe…” — Richard
“Folks fear about Chinese language EVs coming to America, however folks ought to keep watch over Chinese language recreation builders as a result of Black Myth: Wukong simply got here out, and it has over 2 million gamers on Steam, shattering Elden Ring and Cyberpunk’s information.” — John
“Add Eddie is a straightforward app for creating QR codes to your social profiles, messengers, vCards, cost companies, web sites, and extra. It’s a godsend for networking in actual life, particularly as a widget on my cellphone’s homescreen and on the Apple Watch.” — Dewa
“One in every of a number of causes I couldn’t use anything in addition to Apple Music is that it’s the one one with a music locker. I’ve uploaded tons of stuff: Commodore 64 remixes, lacking KLF, Brian Could and Jean-Michel Jarre albums, bootlegs, and many others. The combination is nice, too (you probably have Apple stuff). It uploads after which syncs to all gadgets automagically like another music.” — Mathias
”I’ve been studying The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and I’m stunned I didn’t learn it sooner! It’s so good, and I’m so to see the way it’s going to finish!” — Flávio
Signing off
It’s fantasy soccer season, which suggests an alarming quantity of my persona is about to get replaced by opinions on NFL gamers’ weekly efficiency. I’m in two leagues, each of them in Yahoo’s app, which is… positive. And this yr, I’m realizing how a lot of a full-time job these items actually is; information is unfold round so many locations, all people has rankings and information about these rankings and podcasts concerning the information about these rankings, and it’s all simply exhausting.
Satirically, I believe I get the case for AI now? If I may simply say, “What’s taking place with my fantasy workforce this week,” and ChatGPT may inform me, I’d be there in a heartbeat. A few of the apps try to mimic this — including Yahoo — however now that Twitter’s gone, all of it feels extra chaotic than ever. In case you have a tremendous supply for all this, inform me about it! Irrespective of how a lot consideration I pay, although, I at all times appear to come back in sixth… so perhaps I’ll simply go away it alone.
(Additionally, subsequent yr: Installer fantasy league? Ought to we? I really feel like we should always. It’d be superior.)