Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 76, your guideline to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, sorry if your bracket’s busted, and besides you tin publication each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)
This week, I person been shirking astir of my responsibilities to watch March Madness. But I’ve besides been reference astir Polymarket and the early of societal media and Taylor Sheridan, watching the Severance finale and instantly starting a afloat play 2 rewatch, listening to Amy Poehler’s delightful caller podcast, testing retired the caller base-model iPad and the Nothing Phone 3A Pro, and cleaning retired my Downloads files for the first clip successful measurement excessively long.
I besides person for you a new-old gadget I love, a caller Assassin’s Creed title, a caller mid-range Android phone, a decidedly not mid-range camera you’ll want anyway, a awesome journaling app, and overmuch more. I want to bargain excessively galore things this week. Let’s dive in.
(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into correct now? What should everyone other beryllium watching / reference / playing / listening to / sticking successful their suitcase this week? Tell maine everything: [email protected]. And if you cognize personification other who mightiness bask Installer, show them to subscribe here.)
- The Core 2 Duo. I person truthful galore fond memories of Pebble smartwatches, which mixed features, artillery life, and simplicity amended than fundamentally thing I’ve utilized since. And now they’re back! They’re not called Pebbles, but they’re Pebbles. The Core 2 Duo is the cheaper action and ships sooner, and you amended judge I pre-ordered one.
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows. There are 3 crippled franchises I will ever effort immoderate caller type of, nary matter what, and Assassin’s Creed is 1 of them. There person been immoderate disappointments, but this isn’t 1 of them — there’s nary wheel-reinvention happening here, but the crippled is huge, gorgeous, and precisely what I want it to be.
- Day One for Windows. I person tried each the journaling apps, and Day One is still the champion around. The Windows app is agelong overdue, and while I don’t deliberation it’s the best-looking version, it’s astatine slightest beautiful full-featured correct retired of the gate. Another excuse not to move away.
- The Google Pixel 9A. I almost didn’t see this one, because you can’t really bargain it yet acknowledgment to immoderate ongoing hardware weirdness that Google ought to beryllium a batch much forthcoming about. But the Pixel A bid has agelong been 1 of the champion deals successful smartphones, truthful see this a PSA: if you’re telephone shopping, clasp off. This mightiness beryllium worthy the somewhat longer wait.
- Tweek. Tweek is 1 of my favourite super-simple planner apps, isolated from I’ve ever hated it connected mobile. Now it has immoderate caller views and creation tweaks that make it really bully connected mobile! I dislike really overmuch I want to spell backmost and propulsion my life into this app.
- “Can You Fool A Self Driving Car?” This Mark Rober video is afloat of absorbing and nosy ideas — moreover though location are some very sketchy details successful the methodology and results. I still liked it, moreover conscionable arsenic a measurement of knowing why this is specified a difficult problem to solve.
- The Fujifilm GFX100RF. Love seeing Fujifilm return its gorgeous X100 fixed-lens vibe and commencement adding it to its different camera lines. In this case, a medium format GFX camera pinch some looks and specs to spare. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s $4,900. I tin still dream personification steals maine one. (PS: our friend David Imel made a awesome video astir this camera.)
- Gemini Canvas. I perceive each the clip that these live-updating canvas views are a awesome measurement to interact pinch AI bots — and Google’s type of the characteristic is instantly 1 of the astir accessible and straightforward canvas devices I’ve seen. Gemini is… benignant of good?
- Xenoblade Chronicles X. A decade-old Wii U crippled conscionable made it to the Switch, wherever I fishy it will find caller life. My workfellow Andrew Webster called the game “an perfectly monolithic sci-fi RPG,” which is really each I request to hear.
My favourite iOS browser these days is Quiche Browser. It’s someway some incredibly elemental and 1 of the astir customizable browsers I’ve ever tried, which is simply a really difficult equilibrium to propulsion off. I spent 10 minutes mucking astir successful the settings, moving each the buttons and icons into precisely the correct spot for me, and now everything seems to beryllium wherever my thumb expects. It’s great.
Quiche is made by Greg de Jonckheere, a solo developer surviving successful Japan. I reached retired to Greg to spot if he’d stock his Quiche Browser setup pinch me, because I wondered if he had immoderate cool tips I didn’t cognize about. Then I figured he should stock pinch each of america and asked him to stock his homescreen, too. Here it is, positive immoderate info connected the apps he uses and why:
The phone: Still an iPhone 15 Pro. That rumored iPhone 17 Air amended beryllium compelling and support the USB-C larboard (a must for iOS app development), different the aged 15 Pro mightiness person to spell for different ride.
The wallpaper: I’m stuck pinch the iOS 18 default, not truthful overmuch for its aesthetics, but because I emotion the thought of an animated wallpaper that transitions beautifully pinch the clip of day. Now if only Apple could fto developers create their own…
The apps: Quiche Browser (more connected that below), Things (still the GOAT), Reeder Classic (same), Fantastical, Endel (in emotion pinch the caller 8D Odyssey soundscape), Cosmos (like Pinterest, but pinch taste), Poolsuite FM (my favourite indie marque and radio), excessively galore messaging apps (the perks of surviving successful Asia while keeping successful touch pinch friends and family successful Europe — each state has its ain go-to apps, and I request to beryllium connected each of them), plentifulness of Apple banal apps, and a files afloat of apps to way my apps’ downloads, reviews, subscriber counts, and revenue, arsenic good arsenic 1 pinch improvement builds.
I usage Spotlight and Siri suggestions a lot, arsenic they’re amazingly bully astatine remembering the apps I usage astir depending connected clip and location. So, my location surface doesn’t needfully bespeak my existent usage.
I besides asked Greg to stock his Quiche Browser setup. Here it is:
- A compact, one-row toolbar that afloat disappears connected scroll for full-screen, distraction-free reading
- A left-handed-friendly fastener layout. From near to right: tab overview, caller tab, hunt / edit URL, reside bar, adjacent tab
- The reside barroom shows the page domain, title, and publication time, but it doesn’t unfastened the keyboard. Instead, it’s a ample fastener that opens a paper pinch everything I request occasionally: history, downloads, settings, find connected page, hunt this site, scholar mode, move tab to backstage mode, transcript URL, share, disable blocker, disable JavaScript, toggle acheronian mode, reload, undo adjacent tab (phew)
- No back/forward buttons. I usage gestures instead
- In nighttime mode, the toolbar switches to afloat achromatic pinch low-contrast buttons, and acheronian mode is enabled connected each websites. Right now, I’m utilizing a acheronian bluish and orangish civilization theme, rather cozy for reference astatine night
And finally, I asked Greg to stock a fewer things he’s into correct now. Here’s what he sent back:
- Severance. Fun fact: because play 1 had 9 episodes, and past week’s section was the ninth and ended connected the nonstop aforesaid line, I was dormant judge I’d conscionable watched the play 2 finale… and spent an full time emotion utterly frustrated.
- Drive to Survive and Formula 1. I skipped past year’s play arsenic I didn’t want to relive the dull 2023 F1 season, but the latest episodes are good. After that first epic title of 2025, I’m perfectly hyped for what’s to come.
- Targz’s generative pen-plotting. My bully friend and mentor mixes generative creation and pen-plotting to create unthinkable activity (like beingness art, connected existent canvas and all). He precocious showcased his latest portion astatine a very prestigious exhibition astatine Paris’ Grand Palais, and his timelapse videos are mesmerizing to watch.
- Imagining Arc by The Browser Company. A fascinating dive, particularly successful hindsight, into what went done the founder’s mind conscionable weeks earlier the company’s biggest pivot and presumably its astir challenging play yet.
- Conversations connected Quality connected YouTube. I can’t get capable of integer merchandise group talking astir their craft.
Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to cognize what you’re into correct now arsenic well! Email [email protected] or connection maine connected Signal — @davidpierce.11 — pinch your recommendations for thing and everything, and we’ll characteristic immoderate of our favorites present each week. For much awesome recommendations, cheque retired the replies to this station connected Threads and this station connected Bluesky.
“I conscionable picked up a Supernote Nomad, which is hitting the saccharine spot for an e-ink scholar and notetaker for me. Being capable to publication EPUBs and PDFs while drafting connected them for illustration a beingness book is precisely what I want retired of an e-reader. Though it did commencement maine down a rabbit spread of moving each my ebooks to Calibre, getting the metadata just right, and customizing the epub formatting pinch the correct layout and custom font to make reference connected my Nomad perfect.” — Sage
“I precocious stopped relying connected algorithms for euphony find and alternatively I subscribed to a Patreon for a (don’t for illustration this word but) tastemaker named Derrick Gee.” — Mike
“Adolescence connected Netflix. Amazing play pinch hr agelong episodes filmed successful 1 shot, azygous camera. Even includes a camera passover to a drone conscionable to make things much complicated.” — Paul
“I’ve been utilizing Ladder, and I’ve recovered it mostly perfect. My coach drops six workouts each week and prioritizes three. On apical of this, the iOS app is specified a awesome experience. If you’re successful the Apple ecosystem, it takes complete your Apple Watch, integrates pinch Spotify / Apple Music, and tracks your vitals intra-workout, specified arsenic % of max bosom rate. There are lukewarm ups and cool downs, and I judge it’s arsenic adjacent to getting a individual trainer who creates a progressive training scheme arsenic is achievable successful an app.” — Kevin
“URList, a small instrumentality for making lists.” — Itay
“I vanished rewatching FX’s Legion and was arsenic glued to it arsenic the first watch. What peculiarly caught my attraction is immoderate of the scenes narrated by Jon Hamm successful Season 2 and really unluckily prescient they are.” — Zayd
“I was perfectly fascinated by this 1970’s BBC documentary astir really the coming property of the microchip would lead to ‘our children increasing up without jobs to spell to.’ Interesting echoes of the AI debate.” — Mike
“This week I americium happily listening to Into the Aether, a low-key video crippled podcast. They are known for marathon GOTY-casts and console retrospectives. This week they announced they’re joining a podcast network, truthful I’m conscionable really happy for them.” — Dan
“I’m going to Japan adjacent week for my honeymoon, and person been utilizing a mates devices to prime up basal Japanese. One of them is simply a game, Shashingo, which helps you study done photography.” — Cameron
One of my favourite niche genres of YouTube is “I sewage a circuit of a Disney lab.” There are tons of these videos retired location — Cleo Abram and CrunchLabs some published immoderate successful the past 2 weeks, The Wall Street Journal and MKBHD did them past year, and location are truthful galore much a speedy hunt distant — and I gladly watch them all. Even aft watching the charismatic Imagineering documentary, The Imagineering Story, I still can’t get capable of seeing the operation of practical, weird, useful, and conscionable cool worldly happening wrong the labs. It does consciousness for illustration Disney’s cachet is not what it erstwhile was, but there’s still immoderate astonishing worldly happening wrong the House of Mouse. Plus: everybody ends up doing immoderate benignant of lightsaber demo, and I americium ever present for a lightsaber demo.
See you adjacent week!
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