The next YouTube phenomenon hitting the big screen

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 131, your guideline to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, happy past week of productivity earlier the World Cup starts, and besides you tin publication each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)

I besides person for you a YouTube phenomenon-turned-Hollywood hit, a bunch of Lego sets I stake you’ll want, caller places to play Final Fantasy, caller headphones and soundbars, and overmuch more. Let’s go.

(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you watching / reference / listening to / playing / crocheting 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.)

Last week, I yet caved and bought the mini Xteink e-reader that has been each complete my societal provender the past fewer months. The very first point I did aft opening the box? Install the CrossPoint firmware, an open-source task that has go a immense deed successful the e-reading community. (And the halfway of immoderate absorbing play — I person a communicative connected that coming soon.)

The personification astatine the halfway of CrossPoint is Justin Mitchell, a developer I’ve known for a agelong time. I deliberation we first met chatting astir Newton Mail, 1 of my all-time favourite email apps. He besides worked connected a awesome sound notes app called Cleft Notes, and a bunch of different cool projects.

After Justin and I chatted this week astir the authorities and early of CrossPoint, I asked him to stock his homescreen pinch us. I half thought he’d conscionable nonstop a image of his Xteink device, but what I sewage from him was moreover much surprising. And delightful. Here’s Justin’s homescreen, positive immoderate info connected the apps he uses and why:

The phone: Unihertz Titan 2. Full QWERTY keyboard and a monolithic surface / artillery = I conscionable activity from my telephone astir days, nary laptop needed. You didn’t inquire but I’m besides utilizing Nothing earbuds and headphones.

The wallpaper: I person really leaned into the minimal and acheronian mode-only attack to homescreens complete the past fewer years. No ocular stimulation allowed.

The apps: Email, Slack, Messages, WhatsApp, Vivaldi, Discord, Reddit, X.

I’m moving the ever astonishing Niagara Launcher. I person a civilization widget of an app I built called In Your Space, which is simply a shameless rip-off of the iOS app In Your Face. What’s astonishing astir the world we unrecorded successful now is that I tin conscionable AI-code my cleanable gathering reminder app, and I don’t moreover person to stock it pinch anyone else! This app exists solely connected my telephone and does precisely what I need, down to the astir individual and unsocial specifications astir really my life works, not yours aliases immoderate different user’s.

I’m moving Audiobookshelf for audiobooks, and Vivaldi for my browser. No YouTube, nary TikTok, conscionable axenic productivity and connectivity. Claude is besides pinging maine astir immoderate codification it wrote successful my notification banner.

I besides asked Justin 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 post connected Bluesky.

“Been having nosy pinch Roost. It’s a messaging app that delivers a connection astatine the velocity of immoderate vertebrate you are sending.” — Michiel

“I conscionable started utilizing LazyVim, and it whitethorn really switch a niche usage lawsuit for me. I usage Jetbrains for astir coding, but each erstwhile successful a while I conscionable request to edit a Python aliases JS book and not hold for PyCharm aliases VS Code to launch. LazyVim gives maine the IDE acquisition without the bloat.” — Kevin

“Widow’s Bay continues to beryllium the champion point connected correct now. Every week is simply a countdown ‘til the adjacent episode.” — Pip

I americium perpetually watching for updates connected my Clicks Power Keyboard, which person now started shipping to folks. Can’t hold to get my clickity clackity typing connected without having to usage the afloat (large) lawsuit connected my Pixel 10 Pro.” — Josh

“Using Tuna to configure my workflow connected my recently acquired IBM M2 keyboard. There’s a ton of Mac launchers retired there, but Tuna is quick. It’s besides configurable capable to make it powerful, but doesn’t consciousness for illustration overkill for illustration Raycast.” — Mike

“Hank Green has a caller podcast, Humans.” — Stefan

“Marathon play 2 is spooky now, pinch a nighttime representation that’s really dark, and cogwheel was wiped, truthful everyone’s connected (near) adjacent footing. It’s a awesome crippled that deserves much praise and attention.” — Train Man Emeritus

“Sesame. It’s a sound dialog pinch an AI bot to talk astir beautiful overmuch anything. They don’t mention relationship aliases thing for illustration that, though possibly it’s possible. I utilized it to explicate specifications of a fewer topics that I needed to study about. Conversations are highly realistic. Almost for illustration what Alexa should beryllium but isn’t.” — Jay

“Unlike accepted clipboard managers that trust connected keyboard shortcuts, Layr is designed from the crushed up to beryllium activated via trackpad gestures. The app’s creation and gesture-first attack really convinced maine to switch Maccy. Because I already usage Swish for model management, adding different trackpad motion to my workflow felt wholly natural. Despite immoderate early bugs, the halfway conception is solid.” — Travis

“I sewage the RingConn Gen 2 Air astir a twelvemonth agone for $200. There’s nary subscription, it looks for illustration immoderate different smart ring, the artillery lasts for a week, and it tracks workouts and sleep. I would deliberation that for the group (like me!) that don’t request each the bells and whistles of an Oura, a ringing for illustration this is an evident choice.” — Bruce

There are a lot of large movies coming retired this summer, but successful my location the only 1 that matters is Toy Story 5. The movie’s retired successful 2 weeks, but the media circuit is already successful afloat swing, and it appears we’re owed for a batch of really fascinating discussions astir screentime, technology, and what it intends to beryllium human. Andrew Stanton, the movie’s director, gave a terrific question and reply to Polygon pinch immoderate awesome position connected each this, and why screens really aren’t conscionable a villain. Tom Hanks has immoderate thoughts, too. I emotion that a “kids movie” mightiness beryllium our champion chance successful everlastingly to person these conversations for real.

See you adjacent week!