Two new must-have Android apps

Hello, buddies! Welcome to Installer No. 46, your information to the most effective and Verge-iest stuff on the planet. (In case you’re new right here, welcome, hope you want foolish devices, and likewise you’ll be able to learn all of the outdated editions on the Installer homepage.) 

This week, I’ve been writing about Apple betas and AR devices, studying about Donald Glover and the scourge of conferences and what it takes to feed the Olympics, admiring Christian Selig’s keyboard format, watching Laborious Knocks and The Beekeeper, and attempting (and failing) to excellent my blueberry muffin recipe.

I even have for you a few nice iOS apps which are lastly accessible on Android, a brand new approach to play some traditional Nintendo video games, an costly new digicam, and stuff to observe this weekend each at residence and in theaters.

This week’s a bit heftier than typical, each as a result of there’s lots happening and since I’m on the point of go on trip. Installer will come as typical subsequent week after which off for 2 weeks earlier than we’re again on August seventeenth able to rumble. So, simply in case you’d in any other case run out of stuff to do, I figured I’d go away you with some extras. Let’s get into it.

(As at all times, the most effective a part of Installer is your concepts and ideas. What do you need to know extra about? What superior tips have you learnt that everybody else ought to? What app ought to everybody be utilizing? Inform me every part: installer@theverge.com. And if another person who would possibly get pleasure from Installer, ahead it to them and inform them to subscribe right here.)

• Notion Calendar for Android. I nonetheless actually hate the app icon, however aside from that, this is without doubt one of the best-looking and usually sharpest calendar apps on the market. It’s particularly nice should you’re additionally a Notion consumer, however even when not, I believe it’s an improve on Google Cal.
• Claude for Android. Time and again the previous couple of weeks, I’ve been listening to folks discuss how a lot they like Claude 3.5 Sonnet — much more than they like ChatGPT. I like Claude’s app lots, too, particularly its capability to import and perceive screenshots.
• The TinyPod. It’s a case for an Apple Watch that makes it seem like an iPod, and at the same time as I kind that, it sounds completely ridiculous. However you higher consider I shall be shopping for this factor and seeing if it turns my Watch into the music-playing, message-sending dumbphone of my desires.
• Wild Wild Area. We consider house as, like, a grand stunning unknown. However in so some ways, it’s changing into simply one other place for corporations to try to conquer. This HBO sequence (based mostly on an important Ashlee Vance e-book) is a very epic — and considerably terrifying? — startup story.
• UTM SE. I’d’ve fortunately wager you $10 that Apple would by no means approve an app that simply straight-up emulates a Home windows laptop. I’m glad to have misplaced that wager! UTM SE can do retro video games, however it may possibly additionally do every kind of different stuff. (Simply don’t count on it to, like, really substitute your laptop.)
• EA Sports activities Faculty Soccer 25. After 11 years, it’s again and apparently nearly as good as ever. The story of this sport is a hilariously excellent story concerning the web, capitalism, and fame, however in the end, I’m simply excited to lastly flip my alma mater into the soccer juggernaut it very a lot shouldn’t be.
• Overcast. A giant replace this week to among the best podcast apps for Apple units. Marco Arment, the developer, is correct when he says it’s noticeably quicker in nearly each method, and Overcast does issues like Sensible Pace and quantity enhancement higher than the rest. 
• The Canon R5 Mark II. Photographers and digicam nerds have been ready for this one for some time, and with good purpose. The R5 II is quicker for images, extra useful for video, and has a brand new autofocus system that sounds fairly nice. $4,300 ain’t low cost, however superior cameras by no means are.
• Nintendo World Championships: NES Version. A bunch of traditional video video games, chopped up and put again collectively into tiny new items all designed to be performed at blisteringly quick speeds. Such a cool thought and an important new spin on some outdated faves.
• Skywalkers: A Love Story. I can’t get sufficient of these YouTube movies of individuals parkouring their method round skyscrapers and deserted buildings, even when they do stress me out. This Netflix doc is quite a lot of that form of stuff and a love story, multi functional.
• Dyson’s OnTrac headphones. Glad to see Dyson go rather less, uh, Bane-ish with its second set of headphones. The OnTrac are tremendous costly — $500! — however look fairly good, and I’m rooting for something going this difficult on customization.
• Twisters. Right here’s a weekend plan for you. This afternoon, watch Tornado, which holds up shockingly effectively 28 years later. (The consequences nonetheless rip, too.) Tonight, go see Twisters, which has gotten strong evaluations and appears like precisely the form of film that must be seen in an enormous, loud movie show. Then, hit me up and inform me should you favored it. Sound like a plan?

Ryan Gilbert runs one of many newsletters I learn each single week. It’s known as Workspaces, and each week, it options some fascinating individual speaking about how they work and the way they’ve arrange their desk to work for them. I’m, uh, eternally obsessive about desk setups and by no means tire of seeing how different folks take into consideration their areas.

Homescreens are kinda like desk setups, I believe, in that they reveal lots about the one who created them. So, I requested Ryan to share his homescreen to see what I’d study from him — and what he’s realized from all these interviews.

Right here’s Ryan’s homescreen, plus some information on the apps he makes use of and why:

The telephone: iPhone 14 Professional.

The wallpaper: My spouse and I throughout our engagement footage. I like how refined and distraction-free it’s as a background with it principally simply being a lightweight shade (gentle mode > darkish mode for every part btw). 

The apps: X, Slack, Digicam, Clock, Overcast, Climate, Google Maps, ESPN, Spotify, Notion, Peloton, USGA GHIN, Campsite, LinkedIn, Apple Sports activities, Messages, Gmail, Safari, Telephone.

So, as you’ll be able to inform, my homescreen is a bit unorganized. I really prefer it that method. You’ll discover that Twitter is prime left in prime actual property and out of doors of the “Social” cluster of apps within the backside proper. Happily or sadly (I’ll allow you to determine), Twitter is an enormous a part of my day-to-day work, so I deal with that as extra of a piece app vs. social. The entire apps within the “Social” cluster are the apps I exploit with buddies — issues like Snapchat or Instagram. Additionally, you will see random apps like Product Hunt and ESPN Fantasy Soccer being tossed in there. Not every part has to make sense.

I even have each ESPN and the brand new Apple Sports activities app on the homescreen. I’d love to maneuver away from ESPN, as their app has turn into extraordinarily bloated and sluggish, so I’ve been attempting to pressure the Sports activities behavior increasingly more. 

I like Overcast. It’s the place I take heed to all of my podcasts. I prefer to preserve this separate from the place I take heed to music (Spotify). 

Gmail… I’m not an inbox zero form of man.

I additionally requested Ryan to share a number of issues he’s into proper now. Right here’s what he despatched again:

• USGA GHIN: The app that has most likely by no means been featured right here earlier than! It’s for conserving monitor of my golf scores and handicap. 
• I nonetheless play Wordle each morning. I prefer to suppose it will get my inventive juices flowing, however actually, it’s only a approach to keep away from checking e-mail for an additional jiffy.
• My spouse and I attempt to go climbing ~twice per week. We actually prefer to spend as a lot time exterior as potential through the summer season. Being from Wisconsin, you’ll want to get pleasure from it when you can!

Right here’s what the Installer neighborhood is into this week. I need to know what you’re into proper now as effectively! E mail installer@theverge.com or message me on Sign — @davidpierce.11 — along with your suggestions for something and every part, and we’ll function a few of our favorites right here each week. For much more suggestions, try the replies to this put up on Threads.

“Terrifying Questions is a great philosophy podcast by Futurama writer Eric Kaplan and professor Taylor Carman. Each week, they discuss a philosophical question. It’s smart, funny, and interesting but without being inaccessible. The first episode from a year ago about ChatGPT is a great place to start.” — Jonathan

“Fable! It has been great for me and got me into reading again!” — Ataya

“I feel a little late to the party but watching Scavengers Reign, which is on Netflix outside the US. Honestly one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. Rarely does sci-fi feel this alien or unknown. Even if you don’t like sci-fi, watch it for the incredible music alone!” — Alex

“Star Trek Prodigy season two on Netflix has blown me away. Season one was good, but season two is one of the best seasons of Star Trek (so far).” — J

“I’m trying out Company of Heroes 3 on the PS5. Consoles get a bad rap for RTS games, but it’s only because porting playable controls takes more effort. Haven’t played enough to have an opinion on CoH3 yet, but EndWar and Halo Wars on the 360 were both great to control.” — Ian

“I can’t get over Omnivore’s text-to-speech article reader! I had started off using ElevenLabs’ Reader app to read articles to me, and though their voices are more realistic, I just looove the way Omnivore switches voices for a quoted passage. No idea when Omnivore made this update, but I’m obsessed!” — Roxxy

“Been really enjoying what AEW has been up to recently, definitely coming out of some creative doldrums. They have a storyline where Toni Storm is the champ playing a black-and-white movie star (literally her intro and promos are B&W). They’ve been doing an All About Eve thing with her protege Mariah May who just turned on her. And they just had a 59-minute match with Will Ospreay and MJF that was an amazing piece of storytelling. I’ll watch wrestling even when it’s mid, but this has been great!” — Richard

“Recently upgraded an old iPod Classic gifted to me by my GF’s dad! I put in a new backplate, faceplate, touch wheel, battery, and SD card expansion module for it. Joining the ‘single-purpose’ tech trend we’re on.” — Stefan

“Reading The Battle of the Beams, the story of the development of radar during WW2 and the countermeasures to it. Some incredible tales, really eye-opening.” — Peter

“Ordered a pair of Dayton Audio B40 speakers. They sound like $50, but like… a really good $50. Dayton’s B452 and 652 speakers were long-reigning champs of the ‘beginner audiophile,’ and it’s cool to see this update.” — Emmet

“I’ve been playing around with the Flow Minimalist Launcher. So far, it has led to me reading before bed instead of scrolling and, at least for now, prevented me from buying a Boox Palma.” — Zachary

Some time again, once I was engaged on a narrative a couple of woodworking laptop maker, I realized concerning the designer Tom Sachs’ idea of “Always Be Knolling.” Knolling is a extremely particular system that entails laying all of your stuff out at particular angles, however I take the broader thought as: don’t make cleansing and organizing into A Factor, simply at all times be doing it. I’ve been attempting to undertake this just lately, and it’s superior. Once I’m on a telephone name, I tidy up my desk. Once I’m ready for one thing to export, I tidy up my desk. A couple of seconds at a time, I barely even discover, and my workspace is cleaner than ever. Now I simply have to determine the best way to All the time Be Knolling with, like, laundry and dishes. Then I’ll be unstoppable.