Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer<\/em> No. 35, your guide to the best and Verge<\/em>-iest stuff in the world. (If you\u2019re new here, welcome, get ready to open some tabs, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer<\/em> homepage<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This week, I\u2019ve been rewatching Killing Eve<\/strong><\/em><\/a> now that it\u2019s on Netflix, reading about Maggie Rogers<\/strong><\/a> and flying cars<\/strong><\/a> and the Today in Tabs<\/em> newsletter<\/strong><\/a>, nodding along as MKBHD talks about gadget reviews<\/strong><\/a>, testing the Godspeed<\/strong><\/a> to-do list app, talking to everyone I know about the Papyrus 2<\/em> sketch<\/strong><\/a>, listening on repeat to The Tortured Poets Department<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, <\/em>and playing with the Plaud<\/strong><\/a> AI voice recorder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also have for you a surprisingly gadget-y week! We have a new set of earbuds to try, a new handheld camera, an AI memory system, a new audio-first social network, and much more. (Oh, also, a programming note: Installer <\/em>is off next week, back May 4th.) 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 this week? What should everyone else be playing \/ reading \/ watching \/ eating \/ doing? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com<\/a>. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer<\/em>, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In last week\u2019s Installer<\/em><\/a>, I asked you all to share what you use AI for. Thanks to everyone who emailed, texted, Threads-ed, and Mastodon-ed me with your thoughts!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The main thing I heard, over and over and over again, is that you don\u2019t <\/em>use AI. A lot of you said you actively avoid it, wish your favorite apps would stop integrating it, and don\u2019t really see much use for it at all. I get that; that\u2019s how I feel about a lot of AI. There are so many neat-sounding things out there that turn out to kind of suck and mostly be a hassle that, at some point, you just kind of give up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But! I did get a bunch of cool recommendations of apps and tools y\u2019all like, so let me share a few I heard about:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More broadly, there were a few use cases I heard a bunch of times, not necessarily tool-specific but instead just something useful you can do with AI:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The overarching theme of your responses was that AI is useful\u2026 as a starting point. It\u2019s a good tool to go from \u201cI have to do a thing\u201d to \u201cI have now done a first, not very good, version of a thing.\u201d Which is progress! If you\u2019d rather edit an email than write one or tweak your presentation rather than build it from scratch, AI can be a help. But do not trust it to finish the job. You\u2019ll end up submitting Shrimp Jesus in the quarterly report, and nobody needs that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ve been working on some stuff about other good AI tools, too, so stay tuned \u2014\u00a0and keep sending recommendations!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of my favorite things about Parker Ortolani<\/strong><\/a>, a product manager for consumer products here at Vox Media, is that he usually has better ideas about Apple products than Apple does. (Except for his deeply confusing love for the Vision Pro, but we\u2019ll let that one go.) He\u2019s always doing concept art for Apple apps, fixing dumb things about iOS<\/a>, and even thinks Siri might someday be great. I love this for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Anyway, I asked Parker to share his homescreen with us because I figure Parker\u2019s the kind of guy who might spend way too much time thinking about the layout and organization of everything. And I figured he\u2019d have a bunch of custom icons and stuff no one even knew existed. I was right!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s Parker\u2019s homescreen, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The phone: <\/strong>I\u2019m currently using an iPhone 15 Pro in natural titanium. It\u2019s easily my favorite iPhone since the X. Though I barely use the Action Button, the much lighter frame and USB-C have been game-changers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The wallpaper: <\/strong>On the homescreen, I am using a dark knit background<\/a> shared by the folks over at Impending who make the excellent Clear<\/strong><\/a> to-do list app, which is also my task manager of choice. I like a dark background generally, but using the pure black can get boring, so it\u2019s nice to add a little texture. iOS just feels smoother with a black wallpaper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The apps: <\/strong>Messages, Photos, YouTube, Instagram, Fantastical, Soulver, Slack, Transit, Maps, Copilot, Perplexity, Delta, Bulletin, Clear, Overcast, Arc, X, Threads, Apple Music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I primarily use X to keep up with news, startups, the hot AI companies, and folks just building cool things, while Threads has become the best app for keeping up with entertainment and interacting with writers and journalists. Instagram is floating around there, too, but that\u2019s more for just keeping up with friends and mindlessly scrolling through adorable dog videos.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Living in New York, knowing the current subway times is a must. I\u2019ve tried all of the New York subway apps, even the new official MTA one that\u2019s surprisingly good, but ultimately, nothing comes close to Transit. It has far and away the best user interface, updates fast, and always has what I want right at the surface. A great bonus is that it has an excellent Apple Watch app as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fantastical has been one of my favorite apps for years. It\u2019s just one of those tools you\u2019ll have to pry from my cold, dead hands. The ticker and list UI is the absolute best calendar experience out there. And there are native counterparts on every Apple platform (sans tvOS, for obvious reasons).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s lots of AI stuff here, too. While folks tend to laud Arc Search\u2019s AI-generated webpages that can replace traditional search (which are indeed awesome), I personally just love the care that\u2019s gone into the user interface. I supplement Arc Search with Perplexity, which I tend to use as my go-to for complex deep searches. I find that it\u2019s best at that. Bulletin is a relatively new RSS reader with powerful AI features and a gorgeous design \u2014\u00a0the progressive blurs just make me swoon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Apple Weather and Apple Maps <\/strong>have gotten really good over the past few years, so I feel less compelled to use third-party alternatives these days. I like Apple Weather so much that I\u2019ve given it a giant widget slot at the top for the hourly forecast. (I have a love \/ hate relationship with widgets on iOS: they take up a lot of space, and I often find more value in having a bunch of app icons.) I\u2019ve tried Spotify a bunch of times but always come back to Apple Music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I like my podcasts to be separated from music, though. And while I\u2019ve been playing around with the new Apple Podcasts transcripts feature, I\u2019ve come back to Overcast. I listen to so many shows that a dense, truly customizable interface is a must-have for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also asked Parker to share a few things he\u2019s into right now. Here\u2019s what he shared:<\/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 +1 203-570-8663 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we\u2019ll feature some of our favorites here every week. Also, for even more recommendations than I could fit here, check out <\/em>this Threads\u2026 thread<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been watching Delicious in Dungeon<\/strong><\/em><\/a> on Netflix, and I\u2019m super loving it! Also been playing Helldivers 2<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and the new Destiny 2<\/strong><\/em><\/a> stuff and poking at a bunch of iPhone 15 reviews to see if I should get that over a 13 now that my 2020 SE has a basically defunct battery and I\u2019ve never actually had a \u2018flagship\u2019 device.\u201d \u2013 Tyler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been really enjoying the new podcast from Seth Meyers and The Lonely Island. As well as being deeply silly, it\u2019s a fascinating look behind the scenes of SNL<\/em> at what went into making the legendary SNL<\/em> Digital Shorts. It\u2019s inventively called The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\u201d <\/strong>\u2013 Jonathan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI recommend that you check out Lunch Money<\/strong><\/a>. I\u2019ve been using this solopreneur-built app to organize my finances for the past couple of years. It\u2019s been wonderful to use and has taught me financial discipline. It\u2019s one of the few subscriptions that I\u2019m happy to pay for.\u201d \u2013\u00a0Akshobhya<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cRecently played around with augmented reality to put together a mixed-space painting session. It was really fun. Footage here<\/strong><\/a> for anyone curious about it.\u201d \u2013\u00a0K<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOn the recommendation of my fav gaming podcast, The Besties<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, I\u2019ve been playing Slice & Dice<\/strong><\/em><\/a> for iOS \u2014 it\u2019s an RPG battler where all attacks, both yours and your enemies\u2019, are determined by actual dice rolling around a virtual dice tray, and instead of leveling up to get better weapons, you get better dice. Really neat idea done well, great couch companion.\u201d \u2013 Nick<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI wanted to share the app CropSize<\/strong><\/a> for iOS. I find myself taking multiple screenshots on social media (usually memes) and find it super cumbersome to have to crop every tweet or Instagram post so my friends don\u2019t see the entirety of my feed. CropSize lets you batch-process images super easily and quickly. It is unfortunately $2.99, but tbh I\u2019m just glad it\u2019s not a subscription service. Time saver!\u201d \u2013\u00a0Keyser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cJust finished the latest video<\/strong><\/a> from MKBHD\u2019s \u201cThe Studio,\u201d where Mariah [Zenk] talks about the future of food automation tech.\u201d \u2013 Josh<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Drop<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Crowdsourced<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n