Hello friends! welcome to Installer No. 54, your guide to the best and Edge-The most important things in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, I'm excited to have found us, and you can also read all the old editions in the Installer main page.)
This week I have been reading about ai-generated-content-internet-online-slop-spam.html”>pending ai and sports betting and technology/jony-ive-apple-lovefrom.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&sgrp=c-cb&ngrp=mnp&pvid=9496347B-0FD9-43B1-BCAB-A2E27741071B”>Jony Iveclearing my agenda for the new season of The Great British Bake Off, looking hitman and pirates of the caribbean and A Quiet Place: Day One on airplane seat screens, as their directors intended, instantly subscribing to Hasan Minhaj's new YouTube showand just relentlessly troll people with Vergecast clips via The new Pocket Casts feature.
I also have for you a couple of new Meta gadgets, the mobile game that will consume all your free time, a couple of highly anticipated new movies, the best Spotify feature ever, and much more. There are so many things happening! Let's dig deeper.
(As always, the best part of Installer They are your ideas and advice. What are you up to now? What should everyone else read, watch, play, try, or build with clay this week? Tell me everything: [email protected]. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installertell them to subscribe here.)
The drop
- The search for Goal 3S. My biggest problems with the Quest 3 were the price and the transfer, and this new model seems to have solved both. It's back to the “totally reasonable game console” range and the passing demos looked a lot sharper than before. They look great, although not as good as…
- The limited edition Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer. I already own two pairs of Meta smart glasses (don't ask), but I'm still coveting this clear pair. They are more expensive and actually negate some of the good vibes of the other non-device models, but they look very good.
- Mobile Balatro. This might be the most recommended thing in the history of Installer — I swear, every week someone tells me how much this poker roguelike has taken over their life. And now it's on your phone! $10, no data collected, no microtransactions, my screen time is about to skyrocket.
- wolves. This Clooney-Pitt movie for Apple TV Plus has a fascinating backstory That says a lot about the future of Hollywood, but I also love big-budget movies where movie stars say cool lines in cool ways. This appears to be exactly that.
- The new Roku Ultra. I helped review Google TV Streamer this week and I really love it. But I'm also excited to see Roku continue to move forward: the new one doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's faster and better, and that's a very good thing.
- The wild robot. I'd really like to tell you to go see Megalopolis this weekend, but all indications are that the movie is hot garbage. But people seem to love this one, an animated movie about a stranded robot that sounds adorable and charming and like something I'll end up watching 100 times.
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. A Zelda game… where you can play as Zelda. That's the dream! This game doesn't appear to be as big or as impressive or as platform-defining as Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, but it sounds smart and fun all the same.
- ai-playlist-expanding-usa-canada-ireland-new-zealand/”>Spotify ai Playlist Feature. This is terrible news for my endless quest to get off Spotify: ai playlists are excellent. Now that the feature is available in the US, I've been using it to name a few bands or songs, as well as a general vibe, and pick out a few dozen songs that, at least so far, always seem to be hits. Spotify is very, very good at this part of the music game.
- Social studies. Being a child is hard work. And this doctor delves with a group of students into how much… maybe not always harder, but definitely more complicated, social media has made being a kid in 2024. This comes from a good teamtoo, and I'm excited about that.
- tech%252Fproducts%252Fear-open%26xcust%3DVergeNewsletter092724″>The ear of nothing open. The Nothing headphones have been really solid, and as a recent, aggressive convert to open-back headphones, I'm excited to see how they sound. They look great too! Great week for clear gadgets.
share screen
Fun fact: Joanna Stern It's the main reason I got a job at The edge first of all. (That story is a long one, and if I remember correctly, it involves her playing a fairy in a video? But I promised her I wouldn't tell that story.) Currently, he is a columnist in The Wall Street JournalEmmy winner and, most recently, creator of tech/personal-tech/iphone-16-review-ai-joannabot-3d7fce19″>joannabotthe ai chatbot that will tell you everything you need to know about the iPhone 16. (And apparently tech/personal-tech/ai-chatbot-lessons-google-gemini-dfa16caf”>also do some other thingsif you're smart enough, but again, we'll leave it as is.)
I asked Joanna to share her home screen because she just reviewed the iPhone 16, which means fair I had to set up a home screen. And since she's always using new devices and switching between things, I was curious to know what always made it to the top of the list.
Here's Joanna's home screen, plus information about what apps she uses and why:
I am sending my home screen and my Control Center screen because I'm proud of the work I did in Control Center. I can submit it for an award. But really, I'd like to use this as a forum to complain about the all-in-one connectivity widget in the new Control Center in iOS 18. I don't like it. I like the individual buttons so I can easily turn them on and off or hold them down to get in there. Unfortunately, they got rid of the single Wi-Fi button, but I read on this excellent website that it will return in iOS 18.1.
The phone: iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The wallpaper: This is my dog's browser. It's not the best shot of him, but the framing is good to place him in the middle of the screen. My lock screen wallpaper is this awesome retro iPod created by a designer named Shane Levine. Yo I bought it through this site last year after featuring it in my newsletter.
The applications: WSJ, ChatGPT, Apple Notes, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Calendar, instagram, YouTube, Clock, Threads, Signal, Photos, Slack, Spotify, Phone, Safari, Messages, Gmail.
My apps are so basic and they make me feel so basic. Work (Slack, Gmail). Message (Messages, Signal). I listen and watch things (YouTube, Spotify). I social networks (Threads, instagram). I work more (Google Docs, WSJ). If it's not on this main home screen, I usually just look for it.
Before iOS 18, I had a widget stack on the home screen with weather and time zone widgets, but I moved it to another screen. I could move it back. Maybe not. I have to live a little.
I also asked Joanna to share some things she's interested in right now. This is what she shared:
- The devil at his side. I'm currently listening to this audiobook by my talented colleague Valerie Bauerlein. It's about the Murdaugh murders. The writing, the details, everything is very exciting. I find myself sitting in the garage waiting for a chapter to finish.
- Fully operational. I know I'm late to the popular Netflix golf series, but I started playing golf again this summer and I love the stories of these players and how psychological the sport really is.
- amazon.com/Take-Your-Pet-School-Day/dp/1524765597?tag=theverge02-20″>Take your pet to school day. My 3 year old son loves this book. I don't want to spoil it, but the mascots are taking over Maple View Elementary School and, well, Mrs. Ellen is pissed.
Collective participation
This is what Installer The community is in this week. I want to know what you're up to now too! Email [email protected] or message me on Signal, @davidpierce.11, with your recommendations for anything, and we'll feature some of our favorites here each week. And for even more great recommendations, check out the answers to this post in Threads.
“sliding seas. It's a match-three (or four!) game, but also much more: it requires real strategy behind your moves to beat levels at the high end, but it's never unfair, and while there are purchases and power-ups within the app, You can buy to make a level easier, but the most important thing is that you will never need it. It is the most attractive and mobile-friendly game I have found and a gem that I recommend without reservation.” -Jamie
“gisnep is another daily puzzle game, this time from David Friedman of ironic sans. It appears as a crossword-like grid, but the words just criss-cross and loop around. The goal is to reveal both a quote and the source by completing letters in vertical columns. I have already hooked several of my friends.” -Kyle
“Satisfying 1.0 was released about a week ago. A great group of developers has effectively created a game that feels like work but is fun. If you love conveyor belts and staying up all night, this might be for you.” – matte
“I can't believe you didn't mention the change to Omnidirectional focus! As a perennial switching task manager, this app is a staple in my rotation.” –Peter
“I previously recommended Application in the air as a great travel companion, but unfortunately, is closing. If you are looking for an alternative, Frivolous “It is great, especially for travel statistics, and they are creating an importer for App in the Air users.” – Vivian
“We have been observing english teacher in foreign currency. Constant laughs and so far each episode has been better than the last. Easily one of the funniest shows on TV right now.” – Daniel
“They gave me the Humanscale FR300 Ergonomic Foot Rockerwhich is a very techy sounding name for a very manual/mechanical swinging footrest. It is very pleasant to use. I've also been standing on it sometimes… which I'm not sure is safe, but fun! – Wisdom
“Repeatedly putting the Black Milanese bow for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I came as close to buying it as three times. Now it's out of stock. Even Apple says shipping will happen in early November.” –Scott
“I've been playing with different LLMs using ai/”>LM Studio. I integrated it into me Obsidian Vault to help summarize and organize things in specific formats. It has been extremely great!” -Cody
Sign out
I've been on back-to-back trips for the past two weeks and I'd just like to quickly mention my new number one travel hack: a wall charger that doubles as a great charger. ass portable battery. Have amazon.com/gp/product/B08GKL41V4?tag=theverge02-20″>this Anker modelwhich costs $55, charges a USB-C device and a USB-A device simultaneously, and also charges itself so you can get 10,000 mAh of power when there's no outlet nearby. (There are also a newer one with two USB-C ports and even faster charging but with less battery capacity). It's huge and heavy, but this thing and a long cable are now the only charging equipment I travel with, and they're the only reasons my devices have survived trains. and plane rides. whom InstallerWe love a sensible charging strategy, and this one is about as sensible as it gets.
