Folding and flipping phones are getting seriously good

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 137, your guideline to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, happy telephone season, and besides you tin publication each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reference astir Google Zero and armored cars for rich | people, watching a batch of That’s a Bad Idea videos now that YouTube knows my emotion for Curry Barker, testing the new 2Do redesign for my tasks, watching this fantabulous doc astir the legendary designer Susan Kare, obsessing complete each sound connected the Jauffre’s Sounds TikTok, sending myself lockscreen notes pinch the caller Mononote app, and trying to vibe-code a searchable archive of everything that’s ever been successful Installer. I deliberation we’re gonna request much tokens.

I besides person for you a mates of breathtaking caller ideas astir phones, a mini e-reader you mightiness love, a nosy measurement into the Linux world, and overmuch more. Let’s do this.

(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching / reference / playing / listening to / plugging into a generator this week? Tell maine everything: [email protected]. And if you cognize personification other who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and show them to subscribe here.)

I’ve been pursuing the travel of the Light Phone since the very beginning. The Light Flip, which the institution announced this week, looks for illustration some its champion thought and its champion merchandise yet. It’s a beautiful, $299 artifact of a minimalist flip phone, designed not to switch your telephone but conscionable to person you to time off it astatine location from clip to time. It’s not shipping until early adjacent year, but I’m getting connected the preorder database arsenic soon arsenic I can. I deliberation Light whitethorn person finally nailed it.

To people the launch, I asked Kai Tang, Light’s CEO and cofounder, to stock his homescreen pinch us. I told him I knew he was hiding a smartphone somewhere, and that I wanted to spot it. He swears he’s not, he’s each successful connected the Light Phone life, and sent his homescreen successful the smallest image record I’ve ever received. Here it is, positive immoderate info connected really Kai’s instrumentality is group up:

The phone: A Light Phone III.

The wallpaper: There is nary wallpaper aliases inheritance mounting connected the Light Phone III. So it’s either matte achromatic aliases ray grey. I person it successful black. I for illustration my telephone visually muted.

The apps: Phone, Alarm, Weather, Directions, Music, Language.

Most of the devices connected my phones are beautiful straightforward: telephone for calls and texts, directions / maps, music, etc. The “Language” instrumentality is simply a customized instrumentality we created for Daveand Kendrick Lamar’s pgLang backmost successful 2023. The constricted version Light Phones that person this instrumentality preinstalled sold retired successful the first fewer hours, which was truthful exciting. We are besides large fans of their music. The instrumentality is fundamentally an Eight Ball instrumentality but named “Language.” You tin shingle the telephone for a random answer, i.e., “ask again, but little aggressive,” “not overmuch doubt,” aliases “I’d alternatively not say.”

It’s not disposable publicly, but it was almost sentimental for maine from that collaboration 3 years ago, truthful I kept it connected my homescreen.

I besides asked Kai to stock a fewer things he’s into correct now. Here’s what he sent back:

Here’s what the Installer organization is into this week. I want to cognize what you’re into correct now arsenic well! Email [email protected] aliases 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 moreover much awesome recommendations, cheque retired the replies to this station connected Threads and this station connected Bluesky.

“The Incident astatine Galley House was released past week and I vanished it yesterday. It’s a brilliantly voice-acted, lushly-illustrated remake of past year’s Type Help, 1 of the champion conclusion games I’ve ever played.” — Andy

“The Hawk connected Netflix. Will Ferrell is for illustration a comfortableness hug for a millennial 😂” — Tyler

“The New Guys audiobook is simply a delightful author-read book astir the Shuttle bid of astronauts. I cannot urge it capable arsenic a sequel to A Man connected the Moon.” — James

“My woman and I person been playing Unrailed connected Switch Online pinch her sister and husband… it’s for illustration Overcooked but much laid back.” — Dan

“The Boroughs is simply a really cool show starring an older formed and it’s very cool to spot a hip, applicable sci-fi show led by an older cast, rubbing connected really applicable societal topics. It’s awesome truthful far.” — Shane

“The App Store is afloat of awesome film-simulation camera apps, but those kinds of apps connected Android are sketchy garbage that return bad photos. Not Candela Camera, though! It decently uses the Android camera API pinch high-quality movie simulation, built-in & imported LUTs, and it’s $5 for a life license!” — Evancito

“Reading Dead Hand Rule by Max Gladstone. Necromantic lawyers, magic capitalism, it’s a existent vibe. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve enjoyed each book he’s written successful the setting.” — Vernacular Ham

“Open Minis. After reference Federico Viticci’s article, I instantly installed it and linked it to Claude. Watching it do agentic things ON MY PHONE is mesmerizing. I’m an iOS-first benignant of person, and being capable to picture a analyzable Home Assistant automation, from my phone, and watch it fig retired the APIs, is genuinely adjacent level.” — Burns

“I precocious started playing immoderate video games again. I was doing immoderate Game Boy emulation. Touch controls kinda stink, truthful I grabbed a utilized Backbone Pro and was instantly a convert. The acquisition is awesome and is simply a awesome measurement to move immoderate telephone into a top-tier crippled console.” — Tanner

Last week, erstwhile we talked astir reference setups, I ended by asking you for tips connected dealing pinch newsletters. I sewage a bunch, but the immense mostly of them amounted to thing like: “I conscionable get them successful my email and woody pinch it.” Fair enough! Same, honestly. But location is 1 instrumentality I heard astir a fewer times. It’s called Kill the Newsletter. It gives you an email reside pinch which to subscribe to newsletters, and past dumps everything sent to that reside into a provender you tin publication anywhere. Pipe that provender into an RSS reader, show it to your favourite AI chatbot, do pinch it each arsenic you please! If I were starting a newsletter wont now, this is precisely what I’d commencement with. Let maine cognize if you usage it, aliases person immoderate different awesome newslettering tips!

See you adjacent week!