Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer<\/em> No. 42, your guide to the best and Verge<\/em>-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer<\/em> homepage<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also have for you a new minimalist phone, a book to read, a documentary to watch, a fun hack for your Rabbit R1, and much more. Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n (As always, the best part of Installer<\/em> is your ideas and tips. What are you playing, reading, downloading, buying, or bedazzling this week? What are you into that everyone else should be into? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com<\/a>. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer<\/em>, tell them to subscribe here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Andrew Liszewski<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>has long been one of my favorite bloggers on the internet. He spent years at Gizmodo<\/em> writing about the weirdest, funniest, silliest, coolest stuff on the web, and I\u2019ve definitely spent thousands of dollars on stuff just because he wrote about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, Andrew works for The Verge<\/em>! This was his first week, and he\u2019s already in Slack causing chaos. It\u2019s the best. I asked him to share his homescreen with us to see if I could get any tips on how he scours the web. He didn\u2019t reveal all his secrets, but I do know more about the weather in Canada now, so that\u2019s something.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s Andrew\u2019s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The phone:<\/strong> iPhone 12 Pro (with a battery that\u2019s feeling its age).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The wallpaper: <\/strong>I like a very minimalist wallpaper under my apps, but because I find solid black makes the screen too reflective, I created a custom subtle blue gradient I\u2019ve been using for the past five years. (For my lock screen, I\u2019m using one of Mikael Gustafsson\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> dreamy nature scenes.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The apps: <\/strong>Google Calendar, Clock, Photos, Camera, Google Home, Google Photos, Find My, Instagram, Google Maps, WeatherCAN, Nest, Google Chat, Settings, Watch, Chrome, Apple Books, 1Password, App Store, Apple Notes, Phone, Gmail, Messages, Apple Photos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n My iPhone\u2019s main homescreen is where all my daily driver apps live. This includes Instagram, Google Home, the aging Nest app (which includes functionality for my Nest thermostat I can\u2019t find elsewhere), Chrome, 1Password (which all but solved my password anxiety once I finally switched over), IMDb, Paprika 3, countless smart home remotes, and most importantly, the Environment Canada weather app so I know when to get the grass cut before it rains. I\u2019m obsessive about clearing notifications on my primary homescreen but am happy for them to pile up on the second screen, where I like to keep all other installed apps accessible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also asked Andrew to share a few things he\u2019s into right now. Here\u2019s what he sent back:<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s what the <\/em>Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you\u2019re into right now as well! Email <\/em>installer@theverge.com<\/em><\/a> or message me on Signal \u2014\u00a0@davidpierce.11 \u2014 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we\u2019ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For more recommendations than I could fit here, check out the replies to <\/em>this post on Threads<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI just recently came across this Australian company called Juicy Crumb<\/strong><\/a> that specializes in creating custom motherboard replacements for old iMacs, which lets people easily repurpose them as monitors. And they made one for the iMac G4<\/strong><\/a>! Believe me when I tell you I\u2019ve never hit a \u2018buy\u2019 button so quickly (lol). Anyway, I ordered one a few months back and recently swapped it into my 20-inch G4, and it worked like a charm! I plugged it into a M1 Mac Mini I had, and now I\u2019m using an iMac G4 like it\u2019s 2004 again.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Ryan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI LOVE the Surface kickstand, enjoy typing onscreen (have done it for 14 years, tbf), and hate cases on my Apple devices. I\u2019m obsessed with this magnet-back cover<\/strong><\/a> with a kickstand for my iPad. Could only source it from Amazon Germany, but they shipped to New Zealand for free. Wicked result.\u201d \u2013 Brendon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYour mention of Inbox Ten<\/strong><\/a> makes me think you\u2019d appreciate Tony Hsieh\u2019s Yesterbox<\/strong><\/a> method, which I\u2019ve used successfully for years!\u201d \u2013 Deb<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been loving journaling in Diarium<\/strong><\/a>, especially since it\u2019s completely private and local. If you want to sync between devices, you can use a cloud sync of your choosing \u2014\u00a0it can even read-only sync with apps like Fitbit, Instagram, Strava, etc. to add everything you\u2019ve done in the day into your journal entry.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Michael<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI recently subscribed to Scott Belsky\u2019s Implications<\/strong><\/em><\/a> newsletter, and I\u2019m convinced everyone who is interested in the future of tech and culture should, too.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Ricky<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI just discovered the app Crouton<\/strong><\/a> for recipe collection, and it\u2019s by far the best at scrubbing a URL for the actual recipe. You can even take a photo of a cookbook page, and it\u2019ll generate the recipe. Probably the best example of a real-world use for AI I\u2019ve encountered yet.\u201d \u2013 JT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m enjoying the new MLB Morning Lineup<\/strong><\/em><\/a> podcast. Each episode is 10 minutes or less, and it recaps the previous day\u2019s box scores and news. It\u2019s been a very nice way to catch up on the best sport.\u201d \u2013 Mario<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBeen trying out Star Wars: Hunters<\/strong><\/em><\/a> on iOS after it finally launched. It\u2019s a PVP arena combat game, and I\u2019m loving it so far. The hunters are all unique and fun, it\u2019s not too heavy on the pay-to-play stuff, and it\u2019s remarkably good for a quick game. It\u2019s not perfect (the UI is atrocious), but it\u2019s a good start.\u201d \u2013 Matt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cPuzzmo just added a new game to their catalog, Pile-Up Poker<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, and it is stellar.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Luke<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Drop<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Crowdsourced<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n