Two new must-have Android apps

Jul 21, 2024 07:00 PM - 4 months ago 90993

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 46, your guideline to nan champion and Verge-iest worldly successful nan world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, dream you for illustration silly gadgets, and besides you tin publication each nan aged editions astatine nan Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been penning astir Apple betas and AR gadgets, reading astir Donald Glover and the scourge of meetings and what it takes to provender nan Olympics, admiring Christian Selig’s keyboard layout, watching Hard Knocks and The Beekeeper, and trying (and failing) to cleanable my blueberry muffin recipe.

I besides person for you a mates of awesome iOS apps that are yet disposable connected Android, a caller measurement to play immoderate classical Nintendo games, an costly caller camera, and worldly to watch this play some astatine location and successful theaters.

This week’s a small heftier than usual, some because there’s a batch going connected and because I’m getting fresh to spell connected vacation. Installer will travel arsenic accustomed adjacent week and past disconnected for 2 weeks earlier we’re backmost connected August 17th fresh to rumble. So, conscionable successful lawsuit you’d different tally retired of worldly to do, I figured I’d time off you pinch immoderate extras. Let’s get into it.

(As always, nan champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to cognize much about? What awesome tricks do you cognize that everyone other should? What app should everyone beryllium using? 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.)

The Drop

Notion Calendar for Android. I still really dislike nan app icon, but different than that, this is 1 of nan best-looking and mostly sharpest almanac apps retired there. It’s particularly awesome if you’re besides a Notion user, but moreover if not, I deliberation it’s an upgrade connected Google Cal.
Claude for Android. Over and complete nan past fewer weeks, I’ve been proceeding group talk astir really overmuch they for illustration Claude 3.5 Sonnet — moreover much than they for illustration ChatGPT. I for illustration Claude’s app a lot, too, particularly its expertise to import and understand screenshots.
The TinyPod. It’s a lawsuit for an Apple Watch that makes it look for illustration an iPod, and moreover arsenic I type that, it sounds wholly ridiculous. But you amended judge I will beryllium buying this point and seeing if it turns my Watch into nan music-playing, message-sending dumbphone of my dreams.
Wild Wild Space. We deliberation of abstraction as, like, a expansive beautiful unknown. But successful truthful galore ways, it’s becoming conscionable different spot for companies to effort and conquer. This HBO bid (based connected a awesome Ashlee Vance book) is simply a peculiarly epic — and somewhat terrifying? — startup story.
UTM SE. I would’ve happily stake you $10 that Apple would ne'er o.k. an app that conscionable straight-up emulates a Windows computer. I’m gladsome to person mislaid that bet! UTM SE tin do retro games, but it tin besides do each kinds of different stuff. (Just don’t expect it to, like, really switch your computer.)
EA Sports College Football 25. After 11 years, it’s backmost and apparently arsenic bully arsenic ever. The communicative of this crippled is simply a hilariously cleanable communicative astir nan internet, capitalism, and fame, but ultimately, I’m conscionable excited to yet move my alma mater into nan shot juggernaut it very overmuch is not.
Overcast. A large update this week to 1 of nan champion podcast apps for Apple devices. Marco Arment, nan developer, is correct erstwhile he says it’s noticeably faster successful almost each way, and Overcast does things for illustration Smart Speed and measurement enhancement amended than thing else.
The Canon R5 Mark II. Photographers and camera nerds person been waiting for this 1 for a while, and pinch bully reason. The R5 II is faster for photos, much functional for video, and has a caller autofocus strategy that sounds beautiful great. $4,300 ain’t cheap, but awesome cameras ne'er are.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. A bunch of classical video games, chopped up and put backmost together into mini caller pieces each designed to beryllium played astatine blisteringly accelerated speeds. Such a cool thought and a awesome caller rotation connected immoderate aged faves.
Skywalkers: A Love Story. I can’t get capable of those YouTube videos of group parkouring their measurement astir skyscrapers and abandoned buildings, moreover if they do accent maine out. This Netflix doc is simply a batch of that benignant of worldly and a emotion story, each successful one.
Dyson’s OnTrac headphones. Glad to spot Dyson spell a small less, uh, Bane-ish pinch its 2nd group of headphones. The OnTrac are ace costly — $500! — but look beautiful good, and I’m rooting for thing going this difficult connected customization.
Twisters. Here’s a play scheme for you. This afternoon, watch Twister, which holds up shockingly good 28 years later. (The effects still rip, too.) Tonight, spell spot Twisters, which has gotten coagulated reviews and looks for illustration precisely nan benignant of movie that should beryllium seen successful a huge, large movie theater. Then, deed maine up and show maine if you liked it. Sound for illustration a plan?

Screen share

Ryan Gilbert runs 1 of nan newsletters I publication each azygous week. It’s called Workspaces, and each week, it features immoderate absorbing personification talking astir really they activity and really they’ve group up their table to activity for them. I am, uh, forever obsessed pinch table setups and ne'er tyre of seeing really different group deliberation astir their spaces.

Homescreens are kinda for illustration table setups, I think, successful that they uncover a batch astir nan personification who created them. So, I asked Ryan to stock his homescreen to spot what I mightiness study from him — and what he’s learned from each those interviews.

Here’s Ryan’s homescreen, positive immoderate info connected nan apps he uses and why:

The phone: iPhone 14 Pro.

The wallpaper: My woman and I during our engagement pictures. I for illustration really subtle and distraction-free it is arsenic a inheritance pinch it mostly conscionable being a ray shadiness (light mode > acheronian mode for everything btw).

The apps: X, Slack, Camera, Clock, Overcast, Weather, Google Maps, ESPN, Spotify, Notion, Peloton, USGA GHIN, Campsite, LinkedIn, Apple Sports, Messages, Gmail, Safari, Phone.

So, arsenic you tin tell, my homescreen is simply a spot unorganized. I really for illustration it that way. You’ll announcement that Twitter is apical near successful premier existent property and extracurricular of nan “Social” cluster of apps successful nan bottommost right. Fortunately aliases unluckily (I’ll fto you decide), Twitter is simply a large portion of my day-to-day work, truthful I dainty that arsenic much of a activity app vs. social. All of nan apps successful nan “Social” cluster are nan apps I usage pinch friends — things for illustration Snapchat aliases Instagram. You will besides spot random apps for illustration Product Hunt and ESPN Fantasy Football being tossed successful there. Not everything has to make sense.

I besides person some ESPN and nan caller Apple Sports app connected nan homescreen. I’d emotion to move distant from ESPN, arsenic their app has go highly bloated and slow, truthful I’ve been trying to unit nan Sports wont much and more.

I emotion Overcast. It’s wherever I perceive to each of my podcasts. I for illustration to support this abstracted from wherever I perceive to euphony (Spotify).

Gmail... I americium not an inbox zero benignant of guy.

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

USGA GHIN: The app that has astir apt ne'er been featured present before! It’s for keeping way of my play scores and handicap.
I still play Wordle each morning. I for illustration to deliberation it gets my imaginative juices flowing, but really, it’s conscionable a measurement to debar checking email for an other fewer minutes.
My woman and I effort to spell hiking ~twice per week. We really for illustration to walk arsenic overmuch clip extracurricular arsenic imaginable during nan summer. Being from Wisconsin, you request to bask it while you can!

Crowdsourced

Here’s what nan 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 recommendations, cheque retired nan replies to this station connected Threads.

“Terrifying Questions is simply a awesome accuracy podcast by Futurama writer Eric Kaplan and professor Taylor Carman. Each week, they talk a philosophical question. It’s smart, funny, and absorbing but without being inaccessible. The first section from a twelvemonth agone astir ChatGPT is simply a awesome spot to start.” — Jonathan

“Fable! It has been awesome for maine and sewage maine into reference again!” — Ataya

“I consciousness a small precocious to nan statement but watching Scavengers Reign, which is connected Netflix extracurricular nan US. Honestly 1 of nan champion shows I’ve seen successful a agelong time. Rarely does sci-fi consciousness this alien aliases unknown. Even if you don’t for illustration sci-fi, watch it for nan unthinkable euphony alone!” — Alex

“Star Trek Prodigy play 2 connected Netflix has blown maine away. Season 1 was good, but play 2 is 1 of nan champion seasons of Star Trek (so far).” — J

“I’m trying retired Company of Heroes 3 connected nan PS5. Consoles get a bad rap for RTS games, but it’s only because porting playable controls takes much effort. Haven’t played capable to person an sentiment connected CoH3 yet, but EndWar and Halo Wars connected nan 360 were some awesome to control.” — Ian

“I can’t get complete Omnivore’s text-to-speech article reader! I had started disconnected utilizing ElevenLabs’ Reader app to publication articles to me, and though their voices are much realistic, I conscionable looove nan measurement Omnivore switches voices for a quoted passage. No thought erstwhile Omnivore made this update, but I’m obsessed!” — Roxxy

“Been really enjoying what AEW has been up to recently, decidedly coming retired of immoderate imaginative doldrums. They person a storyline wherever Toni Storm is nan champ playing a black-and-white movie prima (literally her intro and promos are B&W). They’ve been doing an All About Eve point pinch her protege Mariah May who conscionable turned connected her. And they conscionable had a 59-minute lucifer pinch Will Ospreay and MJF that was an astonishing portion of storytelling. I’ll watch wrestling moreover erstwhile it’s mid, but this has been great!” — Richard

“Recently upgraded an aged iPod Classic talented to maine by my GF’s dad! I put successful a caller backplate, faceplate, touch wheel, battery, and SD paper description module for it. Joining nan ‘single-purpose’ tech inclination we’re on.” — Stefan

“Reading The Battle of nan Beams, nan communicative of nan improvement of radar during WW2 and nan countermeasures to it. Some unthinkable tales, really eye-opening.” — Peter

“Ordered a brace of Dayton Audio B40 speakers. They sound for illustration $50, but like… a really bully $50. Dayton’s B452 and 652 speakers were long-reigning champs of nan ‘beginner audiophile,’ and it’s cool to spot this update.” — Emmet

“I’ve been playing astir pinch nan Flow Minimalist Launcher. So far, it has led to maine reference earlier furniture alternatively of scrolling and, astatine slightest for now, prevented maine from buying a Boox Palma.” — Zachary

Signing off

A while back, erstwhile I was moving connected a communicative about a woodworking machine maker, I learned astir nan designer Tom Sachs’ conception of “Always Be Knolling.” Knolling is simply a really circumstantial strategy that involves laying each your worldly retired astatine circumstantial angles, but I return nan broader thought as: don’t make cleaning and organizing into A Thing, conscionable ever beryllium doing it. I’ve been trying to adopt this recently, and it is awesome. When I’m connected a telephone call, I tidy up my desk. When I’m waiting for thing to export, I tidy up my desk. A fewer seconds astatine a time, I hardly moreover notice, and my workspace is cleaner than ever. Now I conscionable person to fig retired really to Always Be Knolling with, like, laundry and dishes. Then I’ll beryllium unstoppable.

See you adjacent week!