A worthy replace to my favourite cell sport ever

Hello, buddies! Welcome to Installer No. 64, your information to the most effective and Verge-iest stuff on the earth. (Should you’re new right here, welcome, prepare for some bizarre documentaries, and likewise you possibly can learn all of the outdated editions on the Installer homepage.) 

This week, I’ve been studying about raw milk and $HAWK and WhatsApp, watching A Man on the Inside and the brand new Ken Burns da Vinci doc, lastly getting caught up on The Great British Bake Off (about which I’ve SO MANY FEELINGS), storing all my loyalty numbers and Airbnb codes in Cheatsheet, and doing a genuinely upsetting quantity of analysis on pizza stones.  

I even have for you a pleasant new cell sport, an E Ink pill price a glance, a stunning new to-dos app, and way more. It’s a surprisingly Netflix-centric week, which is odd for mid-December? However so it goes. Let’s dive in.

(As at all times, the most effective a part of Installer is your concepts and ideas. What are you watching / studying / taking part in / baking / listening to / soldering this week? Inform me every thing: installer@theverge.com. And if you already know another person who would possibly get pleasure from Installer, ahead it to them and inform them to subscribe right here.)

• Monument Valley 3. I’ve thought of it, and Monument Valley is my favourite cell sport collection of all time. It’s attractive, quiet with out being ponderous, and infinitely replayable. Even the soundtrack is one in every of my all-time faves! It’s a bit odd to say “you need to have a Netflix subscription to play this sport in your telephone,” however you do. And if you have already got one, it’s an enormous win.
• Mozi. Ev Williams constructed Twitter, Medium, and now this — an app for planning together with your actual buddies, and connecting with people who’re on the town. Strikes me as sort of… area of interest? However intelligent. And since Fb stopped mattering, there’s actually nothing else prefer it.
• iOS 18.2. I’m together with this one largely as a PSA to iPhone homeowners: all of the Apple Intelligence stuff is no matter, however the truth that you possibly can change go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps and alter what you utilize for keyboards, calls, electronic mail, and extra, completely guidelines. Go make it work the way in which you need.
• The Supernote A5 X2 Manta. Dumb title, actually cool-looking new E Ink pill. $459 is quite a bit for a tool like this, however I dig Supernote’s emphasis on making it repairable and upgradeable. I like that these digital notebooks proceed to get higher.
• Joi Planner. You absolutely already know this about me, however I’m a sucker for a fantastic app. And this one, a combo calendar / duties / behavior tracker for iPhones, is among the best-looking “day at a look” designs I’ve ever seen. The app is, and feels, prefer it’s lacking some options, however I dig it.
• Nickel Boys. Based mostly on the terrific, brutal novel of the identical title, the film is filmed nearly fully in first-person views. And it appears to work. Lots of people assume that is going to win a whole lot of awards — don’t miss it.
• “Behind the scenes calling the Simpsons Monday Night Football Game.”  I by no means completely received the attraction of those animated aspect broadcasts, however the technical story of how they work is extraordinarily cool. Pair that with this new video on how soccer is shot for TV, and it’s like a manufacturing grasp class suddenly.
• Carry-On. I don’t know if it’s simply my algorithm or what, however this Netflix film has been in every single place on my feeds the previous couple of weeks. It additionally could be the brand new report holder for freely giving the entire thing within the trailer. However I’ll nonetheless be watching it this weekend — right here’s hoping it’s good, and Christmas-y, and may go within the Die Arduous vacation canon.

Did you subscribe to The Verge but? You don’t should with the intention to get Installer, however it is best to anyway! I’m not remotely biased, and I feel it’s a fairly good web site. And we’ve large plans.

Esther Cohen is the individual making all these plans, and making them actual. She’s been working like loopy the previous couple of months as our director of subscriptions, and so I figured now can be a good time to ask her to do extra work and share her homescreen with us. What number of subscriptions does the subscription director have, you already know? Inquiring minds wish to know.

Right here’s Esther’s homescreen, plus some information on the apps she makes use of and why:

The wallpaper: An image of my (very large) children and me from my birthday this yr. (It’s additionally my lockscreen, the place I can see their faces.) Apparently, I’m a masochist and each time I see that my 11-year-old son is my top it makes me wish to cry.

The apps: Climate, Settings, Apple Maps, Safari, Slack, The Verge, Apple Notes, Spotify, Cellphone, Mail, Messages, WhatsApp.

One strategy to summarize my apps is primary. On the prime proper, I maintain all my utility stuff: issues I take advantage of as I am going about my day. (I’m largely wanting up locations in NYC and determining methods to get there — don’t @ me, I choose Apple Maps!)

The underside left nook is the place I spend probably the most time, totally on work-related apps like Slack, the Verge homepage, and Apple Notes. I’m horrible at unplugging and really feel the necessity to keep up to date on work always, so having the calendar widget entrance and middle is a lifesaver. I are likely to lose monitor of time after I’m deep right into a mission, so seeing my upcoming conferences at a look is tremendous useful.

Spotify is my most-used “enjoyable” app; it’s what I take advantage of for podcasts and music whereas working, understanding, cooking, and so forth. Oh, and I lately moved social media apps off my dwelling display screen — it’s been a game-changer for my stress and focus.

I additionally requested Esther to share just a few issues she’s into proper now. Right here’s what she despatched again:

• Watching: Shrinking. I’ve been actually having fun with this present — it’s one of many least cynical issues in leisure proper now. It’s not fairly Scrubs stage (extremely suggest a rewatch!), nevertheless it’s heartfelt, humorous, fantastically written and shot, and by no means saccharine.
• Taking part in: Mahjong! The youngsters and I play just a few instances per week throughout dinner, and it’s so stress-free. I even have the Real Mah Jongg app on my telephone. It’d truly be the one app I pay for?
• Listening: Molière: Le Spectacle Musical. Hear me out: final yr, TikTok stored serving me clips of this French musical that’s like an urban-pop Hamilton about Molière’s life. I lately discovered the soundtrack on Spotify, and it’s been on repeat in our home. I don’t perceive a phrase, however the songs are complete bangers.
• Studying: The Atlantic. This would possibly cement my primary girly standing, however I lately subscribed to The Atlantic and — truthfully? — each single story is so good. Currently, I’ve been pondering quite a bit about what makes a publication price paying for, and I like that I genuinely wish to learn nearly every thing on their homepage and social feeds.

Right here’s what the Installer neighborhood is into this week. I wish to know what you’re into proper now as nicely! Electronic mail installer@theverge.com or message me on Sign — @davidpierce.11 — together with your suggestions for something and every thing, and we’ll characteristic a few of our favorites right here each week. For much more nice suggestions, take a look at the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.

“I’m making an attempt to study 3D modeling as a result of I simply received a Bambu A1.“ — Erwin

“My favourite music-to-work-by web site is myNoise. I significantly like ‘Medieval Library’ and ‘Medieval Village’ (with turned-down blacksmith’s clang). It’s free to make use of, however if you happen to toss the fascinating French sound engineer obsessive Stephane a couple of dollars you get lifetime entry to a bunch extra sounds in addition to some good instruments.” — Molly

“Caves of Qud is an esoteric masterpiece of a sport, I’m on my tenth character, I’ve barely seen a fraction of the world, however I’m hooked” — Jack

“I’ve completed studying Deep Work by Cal Newport. It offered helpful insights about methods to take trip of your busy schedule to concentrate on deep work. It additionally offered methods to minimise distractions and lower down shallow work.” — Ankur

“I received actually actually enamored by the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I don’t know why. The thickness of it, simply sitting subsequent to a 15 Professional Max after which unfolding it to that display screen inside… it’s one thing.” — Abhi

“The sport Mouthwashing is getting a whole lot of consideration proper now, however I’m simply letting Indiana Jones and the Great Circle wash over me. It’s been a really very long time since we had something even remotely good with this franchise, however this sport appears to actually nail the vibe.” — Mike

“Studying the gargantuan Wind and Truth from Brandon Sanderson! It’s been fairly a doozy of a e book.” – Jiatao

“I wanted an affordable pair of earbuds whereas I await the AirPods Professional 3. I purchased the Baseus Bowie MA10 they usually work higher than I might ask for. They do precisely what I would like them to do: play my music and podcasts.” — Alex

“I simply purchased a ROG Ally X and I’m excited to twin boot it with Bazzite to show it into half Steam Deck / half Home windows gaming handheld, in order that I can get the most effective of each worlds.” — Benny

“Simply completed the wonderful Stories Are Weapons by Annalee Newitz, concerning the energy of storytelling & worldbuilding in propaganda & psyops. Fascinating, insightful, typically humorous & tragic in turns. A extremely nice learn that’s serving to me course of our more and more polarized world.” — Kailey

“So I’m fully new to graphic novels. Went on Reddit to see the highest suggestions. Got here throughout Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound. What an incredible intro to this medium! Extremely really helpful for followers of Miles Davis and jazz.” — Mike

Final week on The Vergecast, I discussed that I persistently have a tough time determining cheap, comparatively common items to purchase for co-workers, Secret Santa exchanges, and that sort of factor. A bunch of oldsters responded with nice concepts, so I figured I’d share some:

• Energy banks. Give the present of battery energy.
• Scratchers. Everyone loves a enjoyable lottery ticket!
• Native present playing cards. Loads of people mentioned I shouldn’t simply do Starbucks for everybody, however ought to assist individuals discover and take a look at new native spots. I like this concept.
• Espresso. Overlook the present playing cards, simply purchase them a pound of excellent espresso.
• Candles. Is a candle too, like, intimate for an acquaintance? I don’t know! In all probability not! However I do love a superb candle.

These concepts have already made my vacation buying simpler — let’s simply say a whole lot of people in my life are getting some scratchers this yr. Hope this helps you, too. And when you’ve got different concepts, maintain ‘em coming. I would like all of the gifting assist I can get.