Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer<\/em> No. 48, your guide to the best and Verge<\/em>-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, get ready for a lot of books this week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer<\/em> homepage<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019m back after a couple of weeks off \u2014 thanks to everyone who wished me a good vacation and sent over book recommendations! I wound up reading Mr. Penumbra\u2019s 24-Hour Bookstore<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, <\/em>She Rides Shotgun<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, <\/em>and The Wager<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/em>and highly recommend all three. Mostly, I spent two weeks chasing a toddler around various restaurants and playgrounds, and it was a good time, but I am oh so very glad to be back hanging with all of you. And it turns out I missed a lot of good stuff!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This week, I\u2019ve been reading about Worldcoin<\/strong><\/a> and Conan O\u2019Brien<\/strong><\/a>, watching Bad Monkey<\/strong><\/em><\/a> <\/strong>and rewatching The Night Manager<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, <\/strong>tweaking my recipe for a maple syrup Old Fashioned, listening to 99 Percent Invisible<\/em>\u2019s excellent series on The Power Broker<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>rebooting all my fantasy football leagues, and trying my damndest to switch from Spotify to YouTube Music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also have for you a new way to take smartphone photos, a new-ish HBO smash, a new podcast app, a clever use of AI for your notes, 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 into right now? What should everyone else be reading \/ watching \/ playing \/ buying \/ 3D printing? 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 Earlier this summer<\/a>, I mentioned how much I\u2018d been enjoying the Niagara Launcher<\/strong><\/a>, a minimalist Android launcher that reinvents your homescreen into something much more manageable and straightforward. And I heard from so many of you that you like it, too!\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also happened to run into Peter Huber, the creator and developer behind Niagara, only a few days later. I figured it had to be fate, so I asked Peter to share his homescreen with us, figuring we might get a Niagara pro tip or two.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s Peter\u2019s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The phone(s): <\/strong>Pixel 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 3. Since we need several phones to check if Niagara Launcher works properly on the vast Android landscape, I have the luxury of being able to use two phones. The Pixel is my daily driver, and I use my Fold 3 with its wide screen to relax and wind down in the evenings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The wallpaper: <\/strong>The first one is based on a photograph<\/a> from Annie Spratt<\/a>, and the second is a blurred version of a wallpaper I did while tinkering with the fantastic 3D modeling software Blender. You can find the wallpapers in Niagara Launcher or on my Google Drive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The launcher: <\/strong>I was tempted to post an iPhone setup here to see the reaction, but I\u2019m using and testing Niagara Launcher. I prefer a simple setup, and everything you see \u2014 the icon packs, weather, calendar, and media widgets \u2014\u00a0comes with Niagara Launcher. The only exception is the Caprasimo<\/a> font on the Fold. I tried a few extravagant fonts for upcoming homescreen setup presets. I noticed the star above the alphabet is too thin with this font, so I\u2019ve kept it as a reminder to address this issue, and now the font has grown on me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The apps: <\/strong>Gmail, Todoist, Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, Firefox, YouTube, Harmonic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also asked Peter 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. And for even 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 followed Jeff Cable\u2019s photography blog<\/strong><\/a> during the Olympics. There are technical<\/a>, logistical<\/a>, and emotional<\/a> articles. Working in post-production, I wondered how many cameras were being used during the Olympics. Found this blog post about Olympic Broadcasting Services<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Sinan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDenim<\/strong><\/a> has been my favorite utility to create great-looking custom covers for playlists on Apple Music.\u201d \u2014 Krishna<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cA Psalm for the Wild-Built<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. It\u2019s set in a future where humans and robots have gone their separate ways and really paints a portrait of a world where I think many of us would like to live. Becky Chambers\u2019 work has been called \u2018comfort sci-fi,\u2019 and honestly, I can\u2019t think of anything more perfect for a reprieve. Reading this is like drinking a warm cup of tea. You\u2019ll love it.\u201d \u2014 Nolan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cReally into this black and white E Ink smartphone<\/strong><\/a> I was crazy enough to preorder from China. Think \u2018slightly less expensive Boox Palma,\u2019 and also, you could put a SIM card in it if you really wanted, but the bands it supports really limit what carrier you could use and what kind of speeds you\u2019ll get in the US\u201d \u2014 Christopher<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m enjoying Quick Journal<\/strong><\/a>, a simple text-only journaling app for iOS.\u201d \u2014 Joe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI relistened to \u2018The Case of the Missing Hit<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 from Reply All<\/em> and forgot how much I loved it. It got me thinking of podcasts I\u2019ve listened to that had me on the edge of my seat, and I remembered Dr. Death<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. It has multiple seasons now, but the first one is on Christopher Duntsch, a spinal surgeon gone wrong and how the laws of malpractice and hospital fire and hire practices will fill you with rage!\u201d \u2014\u00a0David<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cGuestCast<\/strong><\/a>. I\u2019ve been using this site to follow my tech reporters and politicians when they go on random podcasts.\u201d \u2014 Ben<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMatch Land<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. It hasn\u2019t been updated in a super long time but still works. I have yet to find a match RPG game that can replace it. For me, it has the perfect game physics as far as speed and moving tiles, and nothing else I\u2019ve tried is as satisfying.\u201d \u2014 Justin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBased on your clear interest in note-taking apps, I assume you\u2019ve already read How to Take Smart Notes<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by S\u00f6nke Ahrens. If you haven\u2019t, check it out \u2014 you might like it. It\u2019s short, to the point, and interesting for people who take a lot of notes for future articles \/ books \/ papers.\u201d \u2014 Robert<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe new day calendar view in Todoist<\/strong><\/a> is absolutely amazing and makes it super simple to plan tasks around meetings.\u201c \u2014\u00a0Glenn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I don\u2019t remember how I discovered The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast<\/em>, but I\u2019m really glad I did. Every episode is a dissection of one of the Lonely Island\u2019s SNL<\/em> digital shorts, a shocking number of which ended up being kind of culturally iconic. I wouldn\u2019t binge the show since a few of the episodes are a little same-y \u2013 \u201cwe made it last minute, it was huge, wasn\u2019t that neat!\u201d \u2014\u00a0but there\u2019s a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff throughout. And I will never tire of the fact that \u201cLazy Sunday<\/strong><\/a>\u201d is both an all-time great SNL<\/em> sketch and a sneakily crucial part of internet history. (And not just because there\u2019s a MapQuest shoutout!) That episode<\/strong><\/a> was particularly great, but I\u2019ve really enjoyed the whole show so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Drop<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Screen share<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Crowdsourced<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Signing off<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n