Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 141, your guideline to the champion and Verge-iest worldly successful the world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, I’m newish present too, and besides you tin publication each the aged editions astatine the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been getting backmost into the Installer groove, trying retired immoderate ergonomic Switch 2 grips I bought connected Etsy, researching motorcycle worldly because I’m astir to get a Velotric e-bike, inching my measurement done the 4th book successful The Dark Tower series, trying to fig retired what feels disconnected astir Sonic successful the new Fortnite season, wondering why Mark Zuckerberg needs a castle, and swatting astatine a fewer excessively galore flies that person snuck into the house.
This week, I besides person for you a clever regular puzzle game, the adjacent Jason Statham action movie, Pokémon cameras, and more.
(As always, the champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to cognize much about? What are your favourite things you’ve watched / seen / listened to / played pinch this summer? Drop a statement to [email protected]. And if you cognize personification other who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and show them to subscribe here.)
- The Fairphone 6 Plus. For the first time, Fairphone is trading 1 of its ultra-repairable smartphones straight successful the US. With its amended spot and bump up to 12GB of RAM, the 6 Plus looks for illustration a bully betterment from past year’s model. iFixit gave it a 10/10 for repairability, which is simply a beardown stamp of support for the 6 Plus’s longevity. I wish much phones were for illustration this.
- Framework’s Laptop 12. Framework launched a 2nd procreation of its 12-inch convertible laptop, and it offers Intel’s latest Core Series 3 processors arsenic good arsenic options for a fingerprint scholar and a backlit keyboard. You tin bargain a pre-built type that has Fedora Linux onboard, and it starts astatine $699, which is $100 cheaper than the starting value of the previous-gen Laptop 12. The twelvemonth of Linux (again) continues.
- Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 5 earbuds. Sennheiser’s redesigned wireless earbuds and the lawsuit some person user-replaceable batteries. They besides travel successful immoderate slick metallic colors. Apple, return note.
- Dartwords. This caller regular puzzle crippled from the creators of Blaseball tasks you pinch getting a darts bull’s-eye by guessing the correct word. If you’re getting saturated pinch Wordle, Dartwords is simply a clever twist connected the connection crippled format.
- Mutiny. This movie astir Jason Statham doing Jason Statham action movie worldly connected a cargo vessel looks for illustration a big, dumb, and nosy summertime blockbuster that’s astir apt a blast successful theaters. But if you were looking astatine Prime Video astatine the correct clip earlier this week, you mightiness person been capable to concisely watch it from the comfortableness of your sofa earlier it was removed.
- Mortal Shell II. I ne'er played the first Mortal Shell, but I’m seeing a batch of praise for this caller action RPG. Kotaku calls it a “third-person punishment metallic Soulslike,” and honestly, that’s each I request to hear.
- Polaroid’s Pokémon cameras. A Polaroid camera that’s themed aft a Poké Ball? This is the coolest point for my 10-year-old aforesaid since the Pokédex toy.
I was past featured successful this conception much than a twelvemonth ago up of my erstwhile tally pinch Installer. I figured it mightiness beryllium worthy reintroducing myself and sharing my latest homescreen, which has evolved. Or, arsenic you’ll see, possibly unevolved.
Hi, I’m Jay! Like David said past go-round, I for illustration wonky indie games (play Big Walk, my favourite crippled of the twelvemonth truthful far), diving heavy into iOS betas (iOS 27 is great), and taking my toddler connected adventures astir Portland, Oregon (we peculiarly emotion the Oregon Zoo, which conscionable sewage new reddish pandas).
Like galore different people, I’m besides trying to walk little clip connected my phone, and I precocious went all-in pinch a homescreen cleanup to trial conscionable really minimal I could go. Here it is — and I committedness this isn’t a bit, I’ve been moving this homescreen for a fewer weeks now.
Image: Jay Peters / The Verge
The phone: Still my iPhone 16 Pro I talked astir past year. I still deliberation it’s excessively dense and excessively big, and I still miss my iPhone 12 Mini. Next time, I’m going to bargain immoderate the lightest but newest iPhone is astatine that time. But I astir apt won’t upgrade from this telephone for a while, because it still useful great. It’s honestly overkill for what I need.
The wallpaper: A achromatic gradient I created utilizing the iOS wallpaper tool. (I committedness it’s different from the wallpaper I included past time, but I deliberation that’s because I deleted the aged 1 by accident.) I besides usage iOS’s glassy icons to trim really flashy my telephone is. I sometimes move connected the grayscale mode, excessively — I moreover person a Control Center toggle for it — but that’s a symptom erstwhile I want to look astatine a image of my daughter. It’s 50/50 if I person that on.
The apps: My homescreen is conscionable the Messages app, which is the superior measurement I pass pinch my woman and my family. Otherwise, I entree apps by searching for them aliases looking astatine the App Library. I effort to conscionable support functional apps I really usage connected my phone, which intends nary societal media aliases moreover a browser.
Overall, the extremity is to make my telephone arsenic boring arsenic possible. That way, I’m not tempted to prime it up arsenic much. If I person to usage a screen, I’m incentivized alternatively to gravitate toward much “productive” screens for illustration my laptop (where I tin type aliases work), the TV (where I tin watch a show aliases movie aliases play a video game), aliases thing for illustration my Steam Deck, Switch 2, aliases Kindle. I do support my iPhone 12 Mini astir to usage to trial apps, but I mostly support that telephone hidden successful a container location truthful I’m not tempted to prime it up erstwhile I should beryllium doing thing else.
That’s the theory, astatine least, and for the astir part, the strategy works. But iOS’s App Library is the thorn successful my side. Even though I don’t person galore absorbing apps connected my phone, the truth that the App Library is simply a swipe distant intends that I often still drawback myself scrolling absent-mindedly. (If Apple would fto maine move the App Library off, I would.) And each erstwhile successful a while, a societal app aliases a browser sneaks its measurement backmost — or, I conscionable discarded clip connected Reddit connected my machine alternatively of connected my phone. I’ve travel to judge that there’s nary cleanable solution and that it’s much astir trying to promote bully habits for myself.
Last year, I besides shared that I person a Days Since widget showing the number of days I had gone without drinking alcohol. I stopped drinking to amended support up pinch my very progressive daughter. The widget is gone, but the app remains connected my phone, and it’s still counting up. Last twelvemonth successful Installer, it was astatine 165 days. Today, it’s astatine 630.
Here’s a fewer things I’m into correct now:
- Portland’s section libraries. They’re awesome summertime destinations for my daughter. But I’ve besides been trying to publication much beingness books, and there’s thing satisfying astir taking a travel to prime up a room hold.
- My favourite book successful caller representation is Inside the Box by David Epstein. The book talks astatine magnitude astir really constraints tin really beryllium freeing and beneficial for creativity, and I’ve been reasoning astir really that applies to each facet of my life ever since. I moreover went backmost and publication immoderate of the book again aft I vanished it the first time, which I ne'er do.
- The Moon Ball. My woman and I sewage this bouncy shot for our daughter, but I play pinch it measurement much than she does. It bounces SO HIGH. Best artifact ever.
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] 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 Bluesky.
“Reading blog posts from the Atmosphere connected my XTeink scholar and loving it.” — Tynan
“Played / playing 3 fantabulous indie enigma games connected Steam Deck: The Incident astatine Galley House, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, and The Mermaid Mask.” — Matt (Jay note: I cosign The Mermaid Mask.)
“Still playing Pokopia.” — Joshi
“Just recovered retired that Teenage Engineering has a DIY vinyl kit and fundamentally astir to manus complete each my money.”
“I’ve been playing an ace wee app called Spaceplan. Simple and small, but tells a large communicative and insanely addictive. Add to that it’s inexpensive and location are nary IAPs.” — Chris
“Lost Weekend, the caller Phoebe Bridgers LP. It’s the ‘I’ve nicked your Dad’s transcript of Vekatimest’ to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘I’ve nicked his Head On The Door.’” — Iain
It’s been a awesome week for news astir 2 of my favourite British TV shows. The adjacent bid of Taskmaster, a hilarious show wherever 5 comedians compete successful ridiculous tasks, debuts on September 3rd. And The Great British Bake Off (aka The Great British Baking Show successful the US) will besides premiere sometime successful September, though a circumstantial day hasn’t been announced.
Should make for cozy TV successful September and October. That will beryllium perfectly timed; pinch each of the expected tech news and video crippled launches this fall, I’ll request immoderate laughs and cake.
See you adjacent week!
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